Pokemon Black Adventures: White
by 21xJoKeRx13
Summary: White/N. White sets off on her Pokemon adventure with her two best friends, but doesn't really hate the leader of Team Plasma. Suck at summaries, A/N explains it better. Eventual FerriswheelShipping
1. Chapter 1: Nuvema Town

**Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, this is fanfiction!**

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Since I'm obsessed with Pokémon B&W I'm gonna write a fanfic on request of a friend =3

It might be a bit weird, but my own story will be poking through here and there.

Confused? Alright, it will make sense in time.

This is a Pairing story, Ferriswheelshipping. I'll update the further I get in my game and it'll follow what I've seen and caught and all…

But less violent XD I yell at my game a lot.

DAMN TYMPOLES F*** YOU

Anyways, please enjoy!

Rating: PG-PG-13

Warnings: Innuendos, Language, Perhaps some blood/violence.

No Pokémon were harmed in the writing of this Fanfic.

* * *

Are you a Boy? or a Girl?

[GIRL]

What is your name?

.

.

.

W

H

I

T

E

[ENTER]

_The moment you choose the Pokémon that will accompany you on your journey, your story will truly begin. During your journey, you will meet many Pokémon and people with different personalities and points of view!_

_I really hope you find what is important to you in all of these travels…_

[AUTUMN]

White tapped her foot and ran her fingers over the pink brim of her visor. She let out a sigh, then a tutting sound before footsteps on her wooden stairs alerted her, and she stood. An average-height male with dark navy hair and black framed glasses trudged into the room.

"Hey White, where's Bianca?" The boy asked, adjusting his glasses slightly. White smiled, shaking her head.

"Since when would she get here before you, Cheren?"

"Good point," he sighed, crossing his arms over his lean chest. "She better hurry up, I mean, why would she want to be late for this?"

White just gave another weak smile, shaking her head. "She won't be too late, she's probably sleeping in because she was so excited last night she couldn't!"

"So—orry!" A shrill noise of shoes clomping up the same wooden stairs was heard as well as a feminine voice, a short blond girl appearing at the top. She tugged her large green hat over her head, breathing a little heavier.

"Its okay, Bianca. We didn't pick our Pokémon without you!"

"I suggested it." Cheren put on a devilish smirk, getting a glare from the younger girl.

"Cheren, you meanie! You wouldn't do that to me or White!" she looked at the other girl "…right?"

"Course not, Bianca, now come on I don't wanna wait another minute!" White smiled, going to her desk where a medium sized green package sat, gift wrapped. White smiled, going to pull the ribbon when Cheren reached over and pulled off a small card.

"I'm giving you these three Pokémon, please decide amongst yourselves fairly. Signed: Professor Juniper," he set the card down. "We will have to thank her for this…"

"Of course!" Bianca added, looking over White's shoulder. "Open it, you get to pick first because she brought it to your house!"

"Naturally." Cheren shadowed her other shoulder, excitement glinting behind his frames. White nodded, a smile gracing her lips as she pulled the ribbon and the box fell open. Three shiny red Pokéball sat there on padded cushions to prevent them from rolling away. She remembered what her mother had told her about Pokémon given to trainers: Grass, water, and fire. Fire was naturally destructive, grass was calm and intricate, and water was balanced. She reached to the first ball in the set, looking over a small seal on the top that read 'SNIVY'.

"I choose you, Snivy!" She raised the Pokéball, laughing and causing Bianca to go into a giggle fit.

"I want this one!" She took hold of the third Pokéball that read 'OSHAWATT'.

"Well, who said you got to pick next, huh?" Cheren snorted, taking the last one of the three, Tepig.

"Because you were mean and were plotting to leave me with last pick, _naturally_!"

"We were kidding, but I wanted this one anyways." He looked over the Pokéball in curiosity. Bianca hopped up and down, holding her bag with one hand and the Pokéball in the other.

"White, let's have our first Pokémon battle!"

"Bianca, we shouldn't do that in her roo—" Cheren was cut off by a red, thunderous looking light as a small otter appeared, looking around the room in wonder. Bianca squealed in delight.

"You're so cute, Oshawott! I'm Bianca!" She knelt by the new Pokémon that stared up at her, wondering what sort of person she was. It let out a small cry, smiling and its flat tail thudded on the ground. White smiled, looking at her Pokéball and let the light stream from it as well, turning into a small green snake.

The snake blinked with its large eyes, looking around the room before settling on Oshawott clapping hands (or paws) with its trainer. He turned, looking up at the brunette girl with an almost worried expression. Humans were so large! White smiled, kneeling down as the small Pokémon leaned away.

"Hi Snivy, I'm White. I won't hurt you, but I'm still new to this." She extended a hand, getting slitted eyes gazing over it. Snivy waited, looking at White and her hand before stepping forwards and clasping it with its two tiny paws, and a small cry. White snickered and shook her hand slightly before pulling off when her Pokémon released her. Bianca fixed her hat before waving eccentrically.

"White, battle, now!" Oshawott mewed in approval, tail wagging in glee. White nodded and looked at Snivy.

"You ready?" She asked, getting another squeal from Snivy, who hopped out to face Oshawott in a battle stance. The otter Pokémon grinned, getting in a similar position. Cheren sighed, standing off to the side.

"Please be careful in White's room!"

"I'll give it my best, Oshawott use tackle!" Bianca called, her tiny Pokémon following her command and rushing Snivy. The grass snake staggered backwards, managing to dodge the attack and jump onto a chair and knock all its contents to the floor. White looked over to her desk, not sure how to scold the Pokémon for making a mess.

"Snivy, use tackle back!" The small snake looked up but ran into the retaliating otter, throwing Oshawott onto the desk and scattering more things around. Given the Pokémon had no better offensive moves, the battle persisted of 'tackles' and 'dodges' until Oshawott hit the Pokémon themed rug with a thud, swirls in his eyes. White jumped for joy, Snivy running up and hugging her leg.

"We did it! Great job." She picked Snivy up and gave him a hug. Oshawott got up to its paws to hug Bianca, seemingly sobbing because it failed. Bianca pet her fur, soothing.

"You did a great job, Oshawott!"

"Guys, look around…" Cheren piped in from the only piece of furniture that was not overturned. Pokémon tracks covered the floor and even the walls, things crumpled and littered the floor in the entire room. Bianca looked around, spinning before sighing.

"Oh, White, I'm so sorry! I should've been more careful…"

"Hey, it's my fault too. I can clean it up later." She smiled as Cheren came forward with two potions, spraying Oshawott's and Snivy's injuries with them.

"We need to tell your mom about this." Cheren said, setting Tepig's Pokéball in his bag.

"You don't want to battle?"

"I don't think your room can handle me!" He smirked, adjusting his glasses. "Come on Bianca, let's go apologize. We'll meet you at the professor's lab, White." He waved, heading down the wooden steps with the flighty blonde girl at his heels. White looked at the Pokémon in her arms before following the two downstairs.

"I'll introduce you to mom." She stepped down, getting another squeak in response. Cheren and Bianca were explaining to her mom at the bottom of the stairs, but mom seemed to preoccupied with petting Oshawott.

"It's no problem, I expected you to have a battle anyways. Honey!" She looked up as White came down, Snivy now getting attention. He had a wary expression on as her mom started to pet him. "Your Pokémon are so adorable, I'm jealous!"

"Thanks mom, this is Snivy." White said and Snivy let out a small, shy cry. Mom squealed a little bit, still petting his head.

"Cute…oh, and I can clean up your room. It's not like I haven't done it before. Now, aren't you three going to see Professor Juniper?" She asked, looking amongst the trainers. Cheren and White nodded together, while Bianca did so a little later.

"We're heading there now mom." White said.

"And we shouldn't keep her waiting. I'm sorry about the room again." Cheren gave a short bow and headed out the door.

"T-thanks for having us over!" Bianca nodded to her and followed Cheren. "I need to talk to my family quickly; I'll meet you at the lab." She scurried out, still holding her otter. White looked at her mom and set Snivy down on the coffee table to give her a hug.

"I'm proud of you, dear, just be careful. And call, maybe a souvenir or two?" She pet White's ponytail a little distractedly as she giggled.

"Sure mom, I'll try my best. And Snivy will work hard too!" Her small new partner squeaked, crossing his arms and puffing out his tiny chest. White's mom laughed, patting him on the head.

"You keep her out of trouble!"

"Heeey, I keep myself just fine."

"Of course, now go catch up to Cheren and Bianca!"

"Right!" White scooped up Snivy and headed out the door quickly, running up the dirt path to a large, brick building. The two-story building towered over the smaller homes in the even smaller town of Nuvema, being the only beacon of something good coming in a small package. Cheren stood in front of the door, Bianca at his side looking distraught. White slowed her pace to walking when she reached them, looking at Bianca for a few moments before her attention was back on Cheren. "Let's go."

Cheren nodded, his eyes jumping between the girls slightly before turning and opening the wooden door by its brass handle. He led the three into the white and clean laboratory. Bookshelves were in a few spots against the wall and a separate room had a table and refrigerator in it. The copper haired professor was standing by a device that looked similar to a Pokémon center's healing machine and a large computer.

"Hello you three, I've been expecting you," her eyes darted from Oshawott to Snivy. "My, it seems you've already had your first battle. That's impressive!" She clapped her hands. "Now then, I am—"

"Professor Juniper, we know." Cheren said, arms crossed as he showed his knowledge of townspeople and Pokémon specialists.

"Hey, we should try being a little formal. This is a very important day for you three! Anyways, I'm researching Pokémon. Further explanations aside, I'd like to give you three these…" She turned back to a desk, picking up three plastic devices about the size of a Nintendo DSi and handed Bianca a green one, Cheren a purple one, and White and pink one. "This is a Pokedex, it'll hold all the Pokémon data in the Unova region. It'll fill up more if you capture the Pokémon rather than just seeing them." White looked back towards the table where Juniper took the devices from, seeing a spot in the molded foam for a fourth Pokedex to fit into. Before she could ask, the professor continued.

"Oh, by the way, would any of you like to nickname your partner?" White's eyes lit up, looking at Snivy.

"Snarky. I don't know why, but it's just as cute…and…he's just kind of snarky I guess. Is that a word?" She looked at Cheren, who nodded.

"A snark is a computer error; snarky is a characteristic of being testy or critical."

"…Well, maybe I was thinking spunky. But Snarky…is that a good name?" She looked at Snivy, who gave a nod in approval. White grinned, pleased with herself. Cheren and Bianca shook their heads, content with keeping normal names. Juniper nodded in approval.

"That is a fitting name, though he's a little shyer in my opinion." She smiled and Snarky fidgeted further away from her. She nodded and picked up a bag on her counter, handing out five Pokéballs to the trainers.

"I'm sure Cheren can teach you how to catch Pokémon if you need it, but it should be instinctual for you older kids."

"Thank you, professor." Cheren moved his frames a little in an attempt to hide a blush forming on his cheeks and put the Pokéballs in with Tepig's. Bianca started putting the balls into her purse, not seeming to have anything organized in it. White set hers into a side pocket, all minimized to about the size of a fifty cent piece.

"Good luck kids!" She waved to them, going back to her desk as the three friends headed back outside, White leading. She stopped outside the door, causing Bianca to bump into her.

"White, what's the hold up?" She looked over her taller friend's shoulder and saw her mom. "Oh!"

"Hi mom, what's up?" White moved further upwards so Bianca and Cheren could exit the lab. White's mom smiled, handing out a flyer to all three.

"I found these maps when I was cleaning up your room. I figured that the professor would send you on a journey…you'll need them."

White gave her mom another hug, Snarky looking at what she did and hugged her leg as a copycat. Bianca giggled, petting Oshawott as she watched.

"I love you mom, you're so getting a souvenir now."

"One…two…three!" Bianca pulled Cheren and White forward, holding their hands as they stepped off the dirt path into grass. They passed a sign reading 'Route 1' before she let them go. "This is so exciting, the three of us, all grown up and going on a Pokémon journey…" She sighed, daydreaming and snuggling Oshawott like the oversized plushy she was.

Cheren nodded in agreement. "It's monumental…hey look," He motioned to a grassy area. "Wild Pokémon usually hide in grass. We can probably catch some in there."

"So, we are going to catch as many as we can?" White asked, eying the grass nervously. "That'll be tricky…I mean, there's hundreds of Pokémon. And how will we carry them all, or use them if we can only have six at a time?"

Cheren was about to reply when Bianca walked ahead of them. "I have an idea!" She pointed to a sign further down the road. "We meet at the entrance to the next city, and whoever catches the most Pokémon is the winner!"

"What do we win?" Cheren raised an eyebrow, and Bianca pursed her lips.

"You're greedy, that doesn't matter!"

"That's bragging rights," White confirmed, snickering. "But hey, why not give it a shot."

Bianca nodded, setting Oshawott down. "C'mon, let's go 'cuz we're gonna beat Cheren's butt!" She ran off into the grass, her otter floundering after her. Cheren snarled, pulling out his Pokéball.

"Oh no you don't!" he chased after her. White started to laugh, looking at Snarky.

"We have time, come on, let's try finding you a friend!" She walked towards another patch of grass when a brown flash jumped out in front of her. She shrieked, jumping out of the creature's way as it jumped again and ran into Snarky, making him cry out as he was damaged. White gasped, turning to face the adversary.

"Snarky!" She called, her green Pokémon sitting up and shaking his head before setting his eyes on the attacker: a brown, doglike Pokémon that snarled at him. White pulled out another Pokéball in anticipation.

"A Lillipup…okay Snarky let's do this!" Snarky nodded, craving revenge on the ambushing puppy.

* * *

**A/N: Okay there's chapter one, and I'm tired as hell XD**

**This is my version of the start of the game. Obviously some things were cut out that I didn't find too necessary. I know Bianca's family's reaction was an important piece of her character, but I don't want to rewrite the game perfectly. You all probably played the game and know what happened anyways!**

**Oh, and in my game my Snivy is named Snarky, but it's a female =3**

**So what did you all think? I've got plans that'll happen later on with N and everything that will shake up the story a lot more, I promise. You'd rather play the game than read a book about it right?**

**Anyways, Read and Review! A beta would be cool too, since I make stupid mistakes all the time.**


	2. Chapter 2: Accumula Town

**Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo!**

**Edit: Derp. I removed and readded this chapter. Then found out I can update it with teh doc manager. HURRHURR this is the same chapter two with some grammar fixes. **

**If you're reading this anyways, I wrote a lot of chapter 3 on the way home from my anime con =O**

**A/N:** So, writing this right after uploading chapter one, but this should take me a couple days…

How was chapter one? =D I'm a comment whore btw XD Hopefully there weren't too many errors…

My chapters also look a lot shorter than when I actually type them out XD

Anyways, let's get onto chapter two where we get to the next city! (Finally)

Warnings the same as always, No Pokémon were harmed in the writing of this chapter.

**REVIEWS:**

Thanks to avalongal316, ShadowWolfnr14, compa16, I ok2, sprite21, Nightfury808, and MiHeart Sundae for the reviews and also to everyone who faved and added this to their alerts!

[CHAPTER 2]

The wild Lillipup wagged its tail, taunting Snarky forward. Snarky let out its cry as a warning back, and White nodded.

"Snarky, use tackle!" The grass snake dashed forward to attack the offending Pokémon, but halted as the Lillipup looked down on him, leering. Snarky gulped, freezing his attack to back away. Lillipup grinned, countering with a tackle and sent Snarky flying back onto the grassy path. White gasped a little, looking from the Lillipup to her Pokémon. "Snarky, try again, please!" She added the last part quickly as Snarky got to his feet, shaking off the attack.

Charging, the Snivy attacked again, this time hitting its mark on Lillipup's side. The puppy yelped, stumbling away and went after Snarky again. Snarky shifted to the side fluidly and tackled the dog again, making it fall back onto the grass with a whimper.

White gulped, pushing the button on her Pokéball to make it about the size of an orange. "Pokéball, go!" She swung her arm, throwing the Pokéball at Lillipup and encasing it in red thunder. The Pokéball fell to the grass, wiggling several times. White watched, not wanting to approach it in case the Pokémon inside broke free. There was a low chiming sound, and the ball stopped shaking. White stared and slowly paced over, picking it up.

"…Wow." She looked at Snarky when the small device in her bag started ringing. She jumped, digging around for what was making the offending sound and was rewarded with her Pokedex. She pulled it out, the screen lighting up.

"_LILLIPUP: THE PUPPY Pokémon. The long hair on its face provides amazing radar. It faces strong opponents with great courage, but when at a disadvantage, this intelligent Pokémon flees." _A computerized, feminine voice stated. White looked at the picture of the Pokémon she caught on the device's screen.

"Well, it looks cuter in the picture." She looked at the Pokéball before holding it out, the red lightning coming back and let the puppy out of its new home. It yapped at her, tail wagging as it looked around, noticing the grass was disturbed from their battle in the same place. The Lillipup's dark eyes looked at White, then over to Snarky, yapping again. Snarky shifted back before going to White's side, hugging her ankle as if to say "mine."

White smiled. "Glad you two are getting along…a little," she looked between the two slightly nervously. "This is so cool…I think I'll call you…Inu-chan," She smiled back down at Lillipup, who barked and nuzzled her outstretched hand. White pet the new puppy before standing up. "Ok, return Inu-chan!" the red flash made the puppy (who was chasing his tail) return to the Pokéball.

Snarky snorted, crossing his tiny arms and dusted off his shoulder. White just smiled, "You guys will be great friends, really." She headed around the grassy patches, keeping an eye out for any sneak attacks. The path was completely straight ahead, some water and trees surrounding them. White walked down the path, Snarky to her side. A wild Patrat or two intercepted them, but they were easily dispatched and fed before being able to catch them.

She yawned, stretching herself out a little before stopping in front of a sign. She looked over, reading the scratching text before a familiar navy-haired male stuck his head out from behind it.

"Ah!...Cheren!" White let out a sigh.

"Sorry White, I was just creeping," he walked around to the front of the sign and rubbed the back of his head. "Bianca caught another Pokémon, so she has two."

"So did I." White nodded, noticing Cheren had two Pokéballs at his hip. He nodded back.

"Well, let's go tell her we all tied so we can get to the next town." He thumbed to the sign behind him, _Accumula Town_.

* * *

White exited the Pokémon Center with Cheren, Professor Juniper waving as she walked back down the grassy path of Route 1. White waved back, Snarky following suit, and looked back to find the Navy haired boy gone. "Cheren?" She turned around a few more times before spotting the silly cowlick around a crowd of people a block or two down. She looked down at Snarky before making her way to the pack, seeing blue and white flags waving. "What's going on?"

"Ssh, White, you gotta watch this." He pointed to the center where ten or so medieval-dressed people stood at attention. Their blue and white flags stopped waving with the wind, electricity and a blue letter P in the middle of it as their insignia. A large man with green hair and golden and purple robe came out from a protective circle of men and women, looking around at the crowd they had attracted.

"Can I have your attention?" The green haired man called, booming through the crowd. White scoffed.

"He already had it…"

"My name is Ghetsis, I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." The group of people all turned and looked amongst each other, wary murmurs and questions being spread and unanswered by who they were told to.

"I'm sure most of you believe that Pokémon and we humans are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other, however," he paced across the grassy patch, monocle eye scanning the group. "Is that really the truth? Have you considered that maybe, we humans, only assumed such?" He paced to the other end of the field. Cheren's eyes narrowed, the light shined on his frames in an eerie way to hide his pupils. White looked at him, then down at Snarky, who was bristling.

"Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers, they get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" The crowd glanced at each other again, murmuring a few louder gasps of realization. The green haired man nodded. "That's right, Pokémon are different from humans; they contain unknown potential…"

"You're wrong!" White jumped as the voice next to her snapped. She looked over, bewildered at her mild mannered friend. Ghetsis's red eye snapped over to him, both he and Cheren glowering at each other. "If Pokémon are so powerful they can destroy a room, be used as…_tools_ by humans, why haven't they stopped us! The great legendaries could have decimated us a long time ago!"

Ghetsis glared through him, but Cheren did not flinch. He snorted, turning a nose away from him and faced towards the crowd.

"This child that speaks is a trainer himself, a greenhorn no doubt, he's hungry for power and will use these tools as he sees fit!"

"That's a lie! Cheren is friends with his Pokémon; you don't need to be an expert to do that!" White snapped herself, Snarky chimed in after her, an annoyed cry pointed at Ghetsis. He glared in her direction too, making White glower more nervously back.

"Two more greenhorns to carry on an enslaved Pokémon generation…we have much to learn from Pokémon, but we restrict their true potential. We must liberate the Pokémon!" He carried on without a second glance to the boiling teenagers, Cheren pulling out a Pokéball from his side. "Then…and only then," He leered back to White and Cheren. "Will humans and Pokémon, truly, be equals."

"Go, Tepig!" Cheren's arm shot out to release the Pokéball he'd grabbed, a small orange swine coming from the lightning and landed before the Plasma troops. The pig snorted steam, getting into a battle position. The troupe of knights stood in front of Ghetsis, barricading him again. One of the male grunts stepped forward, throwing his Pokéball to reveal a Patrat. "Use ember!" Cheren commanded, the pig blasting out a small stream of flame to the rodent Pokémon.

The red-haired knight stepped forward again. "Dodge and use tackle!" The Patrat grinned— a bucktoothed grin and hopped around the flames, charging and ramming itself into the pig Pokémon. Tepig squealed and stumbled back, staggering to its hooves and used tackle itself, running into the other Pokémon only to be pushed and thrown across the field from a counter attack. Tepig fell, badly damaged as the crowd backed away, dispersing.

"Tepig!" Cheren gasped, about to go help his partner when the Patrat went to attack again.

"Snarky, tackle!"White called quickly and Snarky leapt to his feet, crashing into Patrat midair to knock it away from its friend. The Snivy landed and turned to Tepig, nudging him to his feet. Patrat lay across the field, stars in its eyes. The grunt recalled him and followed the other knights to surround Ghetsis, walking around the corner with banners in tow. Cheren's eyes narrowed, nodding to White as they walked over towards their Pokémon.

As they approached a tall, white clad boy with matching hat picked up Tepig, stroking its fur. "Poor, mistreated friend…I understand…" Tepig squeaked, looking up at the stranger. Cheren held his breath again and hurried over.

"Excuse me, you could have asked him or me to pick him up." Cheren took him from the man's arms, making him tilt his head to the side, long lime hair shifting underneath the hat.

"You can't hear him, it's to be expected. You spoke out against that man and that just proves that you think before you act, as well as when you attacked them while they were defenseless with this Pokémon friend."

"You talk too fast, what, are you a Plasma groupie now?"

He frowned slightly, contemplating. "You are rude. Nonetheless, I am N. I can speak to Pokémon…your Pokémon's cry was so sad, wounded from your foolishness," his green eyes slowly looked at White, then back to Cheren, shaking his head. "No, never mind, I waste my breath on the nonbelievers." He looked at Snarky, who ran back behind White's leg. She looked at Cheren, then warily to N.

"Come on Cheren, Tepig needs to go to the Pokémon Center." She started to pull him by the shoulder when the mysterious trainer raised a hand.

"Wait, you…intrigue me. Your Pokémon's cry…I wish to hear more of it," he stepped forward, withdrawing a Pokéball. "Battle me."

White blinked, gulping slightly as Snarky snarled. "Battle? I thought you guys were against battling!"

"We fight for our cause, miss." he smiled, the sun shadowing his face, yet his eyes still had some luminescence. White's eyes narrowed and looked down at Snarky, who moved forward in a battle stance. She nodded, stepping back to ready herself.

"Okay, let's battle then, I have two Pokémon."

"I have one, but I will allow substitutions to humor you," he grinned, holding his Pokéball out. "Come out, Purrloin!"

A small, violet colored cat sat at attention, taking one narrowed glance at Snarky before licking a paw. Snarky let out a cry, tail waving at the ground and picking up some leaves. White watched the cat seem uninterested in Snarky, before a beep came from her bag. She dug through it and pulled out the small Pokédex as its screen lit up.

_PURRLOIN: The Devious Pokémon. Its cute act is a ruse, and when victim's let down their guard, it steals their items with its sharp claws for fun._

White nodded, pushing the center button to see Patrat's and Tepig's image as well. She must not have heard it beep to indicate a new Pokémon nearby. N let out a tutting sound, crossing his arms.

"A Pokédex, really, that hasty professor must have sent you out to do her dirty work. You're going to confine many, many Pokémon in Pokéballs for that, then," he grinned as he saw White's eyes snap back up to his. Before she could reply, Purrloin hopped to her feet. "Use scratch!" The purple cat let out a meow, making N nod in approval as her paws glowed dangerously, leaping towards the grass snake. Snarky readied himself, slit eyes watching Purrloin's movements.

"Snarky, use Tackle!"

Snarky let out a cry, about to jump when its one paw glowed green and a vine snatched Purrloin by the paw, flinging her back. She yowled, flipping midair to land back on the pads of her paws. White stared, eyes widened before they sparkled.

"Wow that was…vine whip! That's so cool Snarky!" She fangirled, earning a salute from Snarky. N scoffed, looking across the field at Purrloin, who started to growl and lash her tail back and forth. White grinned, looking back at the battle. "Okay, use tackle!" Snarky let out another cry and ran at Purrloin, who without N's command Leapt over Snarky, landing behind him and raked her claws over his back. Snarky yelped, stepping forward a little and wincing, the green over his back turning darker green from the wound.

White glared while the Purrloin purred, her attack succeeded. "Snarky, use vine whip again!" Snarky turned back to the cat, his arm glowing as he struck her in the chest this time while she was unsuspectingly washing her paws. She howled, being thrown back onto her side. He hissed, spatting and got back to her feet, shakily. N glowered now irritated at Snarky for wounding his friend.

"Purrloin use scratch again!"

"Snarky, vine whip!"

The two Pokémon clashed, countering the other's moves and hardly making any hits. They attacked each other once more before jumping back. Snarky panted, having dark claw marks all over his semi-scaly body. Purrloin appeared just as bad off, giving up on grooming itself to scowl. White was a bit tense, her fist clenched and shaking from adrenaline. She looked over to her opponent, who was remaining calm. His lime eyes looked up and met hers with a smile. White could only guess what he was thinking: Noob, unprofessional, worked up, incapable. She snarled, eying Snarky a few more times before pulling out the Pokéball.

"Snarky, return!" The grass snake whined but was resealed. "Have a good rest."

"Are you giving in already?" N called from across the field, earning another glare.

"You said substitutes were allowed, activist. Go, Inu-chan!" She threw her second Pokéball, the small canine yapping as he came out. Purrloin hopped to her feet and hissed, snarling at the unsuspecting puppy. Inu-chan's eyes widened, looking at N and the cat screeching at him. White gulped a little.

"_Right…Inu-chan hasn't actually been in a trainer battle before." _White thought to herself, looking at the inu get snarled at. He approached the devious cat, slowly, trying to catch her scent. He crept closer, curious about the feline and got scratched in the nose with a yowl. He yelped, taking steps back before growling and started to bark at Purrloin. Purrloin mewled and ran further in the grass patch, Inu-chan giving chase. White stared and sweatdropped. N turned red in the face and clenched a fist.

"Giving in already?" White stuck her tongue out, pulling down her bottom eyelid.

"You bafoon! How cruel you must be to sick a dog on my friend…" He got his Pokéball and got the flash to reach Purrloin, calling the feline back to sanctuary.

"Don't call me that! It was unintentional, but still effective!"

"Winning is all you desire? Hm…" N put the Pokéball into his pocket, turning away. "I've never heard Pokémon say such vulgar things…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" White snapped and Inu-chan barked in agreement, coming over from the grass patch. N shook his head again, running his fingers over the brim of his hat.

"I hear them…your Pokémon of course. That Snarky fellow is not very polite...and you must be a bad influence on that dog!"

"What? You talk way to fast, groupie." White shook her head, recalling Inu-chan.

"Terrible, absolutely terrible. You aren't even aware of the damage you're causing. Never mind it, I'll meet you again, miss." He nodded his head and walked around the corner where Ghetsis had also left.

"My name is White!" She yelled after him, muttering. Looking around, she noticed the Cheren was nowhere in sight. She went to the Pokémon center, hoping he'd stopped there for his Tepig. A few tables and chairs were scattered around, some occupied, but none with her friend. She sighed and went up to the counter, setting the Pokéballs there. "Can you heal my Pokémon please?"

"No problem, one minute," the nurse in pink nodded, putting the Pokéballs in a machine. An image on the side showed the identification number of the Pokémon and she looked back at White. "Excuse me, are you White?"

She looked over from the PC keyboard and nodded. "Yeah, why?" The nurse turned again and handed her a folded slip of paper.

"A young man told me to give this to you if you showed up," she turned again and handed her the Pokéballs. "Have a safe journey!"

"Oh, thank you." White took them and put them into her side pocket. She sat, unfolding the letter.

[

DEAR WHITE:

Hi, sorry I had to leave so suddenly. Your battle was getting really intense but Tepig needed me. I hope you dispatched that creep L (or whatever it was). I figured you'd be sensible and go to the center afterwards. Please call me on the Xtransceiver when you read this.

-CHEREN

P.S. You should maybe buy a few potions at the mart just in case. They will come in handy.

]

White smiled, putting the paper in her bag and pulled out the Xtransceiver her mom had packed before they left. As she hit the call button, a burst noise came to her ears and Snarky was suddenly in her lap. "Oh! You surprised me Snarky…sorry I didn't call you out once you were feeling better. I'm about to call Cheren." Snarky nodded, sitting down patiently as she entered a code. The screen was fuzzy for a few moments until the navy-haired nerd answered; his background was some grassy path he was walking down.

"White, thanks for calling…are you alright?"

"Yup, just fine. Snarky hauled some ass but Inu-chan finished it off. Dog versus kitty is a bad idea huh." She grinned nervously y and Cheren nodded, partially distracted.

"Well good, I'm gad you got him out of there. I see you're in the Pokémon Center. You should meet up with me on Route 2. There's a lot of trainers and new Pokémon though. I'll see you in Striaton City."

"Wait wait, Striaton? Isn't that where a gym is?"

"Precisely, a café gym. The brother's there are pretty strong, but we can handle it. Oh, and I'm so beating you to that gym badge!"

"You're on!" White smiled as Cheren nodded and hung up on his end. She grinned, putting the transceiver away and picked up her partner. "Come on Snarky, we got some trainers to fight and a gym to get to!"

* * *

**A/N: Woo, with this author's note I'm at 8 pages XD**

**Slightly over chapter one but booyah!**

**Some things to point out: Firstly, N's Purrloin in the game is MALE. Well that's too damn bad!**

**Secondly, Ghetsis' speech was either taken word for word or in context…obviously I added in Cheren's story. **

**Thirdly: I've had 3 Lillipup's and my main one is Inu-chan XD I don't think I would have had fun typing Spin-Away or Mustache very much (mustache was female btw…I should've named her Femstache). I also didn't tie Bianca, I caught a Patrat and never used the F*ckin thing. **

**Also: Swearing for the yays. These guys are supposed to be around 17 anyways. I wrote part of this chapter on my iPod XD**

**How was my N, alright? **

**Anyways, I'm still a comment whore so please R&R me and point out any errors you may spot!**


	3. Chapter 3: Striaton City

**Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo. This is FANfiction!**

**A/N:** Haay peeps. Thanks everyone that satisfied my comment whore needs XD

I've been told there are a few errors in the last chapter, that seem to be minor, but I literally have to take down the chapter and reupload it. Is there an easier way?

I'll try proofreading it again; I also forgot some linebreaks I wanted in there.

I'll admit *cough* I haven't played my game recently =[ but I'll try, for reals!

Edited: So after several days of slowly doing this, I played my game a shitton more. Because we had a snow day! And now after hearing a theory about the game, I'm excited to get this under way

Edit again: So I didn't get too far on the last note XD but then got further behind because I went to an anime convention! I cosplayed N, but had a really bad wig _ SO I'm on the car ride home when typing this now. Woo driving?

I apologize for the long wait, but thanks EVERYONE who commented and watched this story! I found a few grammatical mistakes in the last chapter, so I may go fix those…which involves me taking the chapter down for a while.

let's try getting chapter three on a roll XP

* * *

[CHAPTER 3]

White carried Snivy across the small city, excusing herself around some elderly people. She walked further away into a grassy section of the city with a tunnel nearby. Pausing, she went to the glass doors and let herself in. A plasma screen TV covered one side of the wall and an electric banner over the top displayed some announcements scrolling across.

White read them only for a moment, finding the date and then the time: 9:00 p.m. She watched it scroll away before heading out of the tunnel's light, set back into darkness. "I didn't even notice is was this late…" She eyed the path, grass covering it and rustling was heard. She looked at Snarky, the tiny reptile looking back up. "I can't believe we've only been together for a day."

Snarky cooed, smiling in her arms as White continued walking, heading down a dirt road. The sun was setting over the pines and occasional hills. A few Woobats flew over White's head, heading over the hills to a further route. White's Pokédex beeped once and shut off, being ignored. "Oh crap, it's getting late. We gotta catch up to Cheren!" White looked at Snarky and started walking through the grass, avoiding all the Pokémon she saw. Snarky nodded, nuzzling his trainer's arm as she hurried around obstacles and trainers, playing ninja.

The sun set, leaving the field to look purple as the last light was vanishing. White panted, covered in dirt and scratches from running under trees too quickly. Her stomach growled, making her brisk pace slow to a lumbering walk, Snarky looking around quicker than her feet moved. Groaning, she finally stopped walking the path. Snarky tilted his head back up at her, letting out a small cry before a yelp. White sat suddenly on a blank patch of grass, leaning against a tree. "Hungryyyyy…" She mused, giving a small sigh.

Snarky frowned, wiggling his way out of White's grip and went under her arm, digging through her bag. White looked over and moved the bag off her shoulder, allowing Snarky further access. The limbed snake dug around before slithering out, dragging a plastic Tupperware out with him. White stared, taking the case and read a pink sticky note pasted on the lid:

_[ Honey, Don't work too hard, and don't forget you need three square meals a day!_

_Love Mom 3 _

_P.S. I bought a bag of Pokémon food for you too!]_

White smiled, setting the plastic down to pull out a small crinkling bag of food. The bag read simply: Pokéfood, and was an aqua color with Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivy chibis on the cover. White giggled, showing Snarky.

"Check it out, you're famous!" Snarky clapped, smiling and reaching for the bag with his stubby paws. Laughing, White set the Tupperware lid on the grass and poured some o f the dry food onto it. Snarky clapped again, sitting back and curling his tail around him as he started to nibble. Giggling, White pulled out her second Pokéball and let Inu-chan have some of Snarky's spoils. The puppy yapped, running around the field for a couple minutes before finally sitting to eat. White took out her sandwich—peanut butter and jelly—and ate the first triangle quickly. Grass started shifting in the wind as it got even darker, clouds covering up the three quarter moon off and on. White shivered, rubbing her arms a little from the chill.

A pair of glowing eyes looked at them from a dark bush, growling in its throat slightly. White looked up at the noise and saw nothing but shrouded leaves, being shaken by the light, chilly breeze sweeping through the clearing. She shrugged, picking up the other part of her sandwich and paused before taking another bite, looking around. "Hey Snarky, do you hear that?" She looked over at her partner, who was staring at her nonchalantly and chewing. She took that as a no, eyes darting around a couple more times before starting to eat the second half.

"Mrrrreow!" White almost choked on her peanut butter as she saw a small Purrloin approaching her side. Snarky hissed, hopping to his short feet and waved his tail a few times. White finally swallowed safely, looking at the cat that gave her the pitifully adorable face, ears falling down.

"Aw…she's hungry," she watched the cat slowly lick her paw, still looking quite meek. Snarky growled, taking the bag of Pokéfood that was the same size as he was a hugged it close to his scaly body. Mine. White frowned, extending a hand to him. "C'mon Snarks, sharing is caring and kitties are cute," He chattered, shaking his head a few times before getting a sterner look. "You'll get fat if you eat that entire bag of food!"

Snarky's eyes widened, looking at the puppy (who had fallen asleep before even finishing all his food) before handing the bag to White, still glaring at Purrloin. The cat got to her feet, excited as White got a handful of food set onto a soft patch of grass for her. Purrloin mewed, licking White's fingers before she could pull away fully and began eating. White thought for a little bit, taking out her Pokédex and checking the cat's information again. "Well, she doesn't exactly fit the bill my Pokédex says." White looked at the feasting cat, watching it's purple ears go back to normal form, and scythe tail twitching with every gust of wind.

The young Pokémon trainer leaned against the tree behind her, putting the crusts of her sandwich back into the Tupperware. She let out a sigh, watching Inu-chan breathe evenly, comfortably asleep, and the clouds cover and uncover the moon. The clouds twisted and spiked randomly, leaving long streams that reminded her of green hair glistening. Purrloin started to clean her paws, having finished all White had given her. The trainer watched her, observing some battle scars on the young Pokémon and sighed, looking back to the wispy clouds that reminded her of…

"_Oh god_," she thought. "_Why would this remind me of that stupid groupie, sure there's a Purrloin here and he's got crazy, dreamy hair… but really, what a dork_." White scoffed, looking back at Snarky as he yawned with a tiny squeak. She smiled, then frowned as Purrloin's ears went back and hissed at Snarky, and kept distance from the sleepy puppy. She got to her feet, looking at White before running off into a bush. White pulled out a Pokéball on instinct, but sighed as the cat disappeared. Instead, White withdrew Inu-chan's Pokéball and recalled him, not that he noticed.

White got to her feet, stretching and packed away the food in her bag. Snarky yawned; mimicking her stretches before White picked him up, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Let's get going, I'm tired." Snarky squeaked in agreement as White continued walking through the bushes. Soon, a streetlight came into view over a sign that said: Striaton City ahead. She walked past it and headed towards another tunnel like the one exiting Accumula town.

She groaned, dragging her feet onto concrete as a sidewalk formed after the tunnel with the night watchman. Her feet lead her into the new towns, apartments lining the walkway, moon still overhead. It was probably around 11 o'clock when White found her way to the Pokémon center, the automatic doors sliding open as she got closer. "Whoosh…" A few trainers were around the main area at tables, drinking coffee and reading. Some were completely asleep on cots or plushy couches that littered the main area. The Pokémart in the corner's lights were off, showing they had closed for the evening. White went to the counter, where the nurse was typing on a computer with a pink and cream colored Pokémon behind her. White's Pokédex started to go off, but she ignored it and set Snarky and Inu-chan's Pokéballs on the counter.

The nurse looked up at the noise, as did the large eared Pokémon. White blinked, rubbing her eyes. "Can you heal them please…" The nurse nodded, her Pokémon picking up Snarky and set him on a table, recharging him. The nurse looked at White as she yawned, waiting.

"Do you need a room for the night?" She asked and White looked at her, confused.

"A room…? Isn't this the Pokémon center…" She looked around. The nurse smiled.

"We have rooms built for trainers that need rest. You look like you need some," she handed her a key with a Pokéball on the end. "You can have room 4 down that hall to the right." The pink Pokémon set Snarky back on the main counter, who was holding Inu-chan Pokéball as well. White nodded, taking the key.

"Thanks very much!" She smiled and picked Snarky up, carrying him down the designated hallway and to a room with a gold 4 on the door. She entered, finding a small one bed room with a lamp and alarm clock. She set Snarky on the bed by the pillow, where he flopped onto the fluffy cushion. White put her bag onto the desk nearby and pulled out a pair of cotton grey pants and a pink tank top. She changed into her pajamas and set the alarm clock, looking at the bed where Snarky had comfortably fallen asleep in the exact center of the bed. She sighed, climbing around him and slept with her back against the wall.

"Good night Snarky," she yawned, petting him gently and getting a small whine in response as he curled up, moving against her stomach and pulled the blankets to his waist. "And I thought Tepig was hog…"

* * *

Purrloin mewed, backing up before getting her head patted. "There there friend, you can run free again now. Thank you for helping me…" White light surrounded the cat before dispersing; a Pokéball in the masculine person's hand did the same thing before shrinking to normal size. Purrloin meowed, going to step towards the person again but he stood, setting a handful of food on the ground and walked away. "Take care!" He waved over his shoulder and went through the tunnel to Striaton city, leaving Purrloin sitting under a tree with more food, when she wasn't even hungry anymore. She curled up, staying on the path and fell asleep as the moon reached its full height.

* * *

White awoke the next morning with comfy sheets around her and hair down. She didn't really remember taking out her ponytail but figured she was just tired. Looking down, Snarky was still curled up next to her, but had definitely given her more room during the night. She carefully got up, sliding off the bed around him and went to get changed again. She had a clean set of clothes on a table next to the bathroom. "Oh yeah, I put my clothes in for laundry…" she yawned, looking at the time before herself in the mirror. She was tired, of course, but her memory should have been better. "Oh well."

After doing her hair and making sure her visor was on straight, she came out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Snarky was sitting up in bed, rubbing his large eyes with tiny paws and slowly hopped to his feet, bouncing on the bed a few times before realizing White was giggling at him. She smiled, watching while Snarky crossed his arms and huffed. White picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder, reminding herself to check her Pokédex entries later if she felt like it.

Exiting the room, Snarky walked next to her, stretching a few times like White had the night before. He followed his trainer out into the main area of the Pokémon center, where the people from the night before had cleared out and more workers or college students were just relaxing on a Saturday morning. Snarky looked around, watching the people laughing and talking and Pokémon doing the same. He gulped, keeping close to White's heels when he bumped into them with a squeak. White looked back at the sound. "Sorry Snarky, want me to carry you again?" Snarky shook his head and took the lead, walking towards the table that had a bunch of breakfast items on it, and bowls of Pokéfood on the floor. White snickered again and followed him, getting a plate and took a couple muffins for herself and sat at a table nearby to keep an eye on Snarky. She released Inu-chan, and he instantly started running circles around her table.

People looked over at the yappy puppy, making White blush and look under the table. "Inu-chan, Snarky has some breakfast!" The dog stopped and looked up at her incredulously, as if disbelieving before Snarky gave a cry, waving him over (though he didn't look very thrilled about it). The puppy wagged his tail and bounced over to Snarky's bowl, where the grass snake was eating with his paws, he stuck his entire face into it. A few older watchers started to chuckle and continue eating their breakfast.

White finished her muffins and got rid of the trash, looking at her two Pokémon have an argument over Inu's table manners. White waved, getting their attention. "Come on guys, we've gotta look around this place. Cheren said there's a gym here."

"There is a gym here!" A petite, short green haired boy walked by, throwing away a cup of coffee. "I could…I mean if you want, I could show you where it is." He smiled, eyes matching his hair color. White blinked a few times before nodding.

"That'd be great!"

"Excellent. I'm Cilan." He offered a hand after a moment, and White complied with a shake.

"I'm White, this is Snarky and Inu-chan." She motioned to the two tiny Pokémon looking up at the strange-haired boy. He smiled, waving.

"Pleasure to meet you! So… is this Snivy your starter from the Professor? She's been talking about a group she sent off on their journey yesterday."

"Yup, we just met yesterday…how did you know?" White answered and followed the boy out of the Pokémon center. He was wearing a white button up shirt with black accents. He looked sort of like a waiter, but didn't want to question him much.

"Oh, well that's great. You two look like great friends already." He stopped in front of a tall building with stone pillars by the doors, ignoring her question. "This is the gym, it's also a café. We..uh… should meet up for lunch later!" He smiled genuinely, but nervously. White nodded, smiling back.

"Sounds great, I think I'm going to go explore and train these two a little more before actually challenging the leader."

"Leaders actually. I recommend you go east towards the Dreamyard, there are lots of Pokémon and trainers that will help you out," he took a small bow. "Have a nice day, White. See you later!" He turned on a heel while waving and entered the café gym. She watched him leave then looked back at her team.

"Okay, let's go see this Dreamyard place," she took a right up the concrete path and then left, heading towards another tunnel stop. A few trainers inside were watching the news on the screen, as well as the watchman. Snarky made another shrill sound, grinning up at White with slanted eyes. She tilted her head. "What?"

Her grass Pokémon shook his head, continuing to walk out of the tunnel into another grassy path. A cement fence covered the left side, as well as a few trees blocking part of the crumbling wall. A few trainers walked around, and a couple challenging each other. White gulped, looking at her Pokémon but walked around, not wanting to disturb them. While watching a couple boys' battle of Lillipups, she almost bumped into a girl. "Oh! Excuse me…" She backed up.

The girl waved a hand. "No, it's okay really. If you came to challenge those two you came at a bad time. They're always fighting each other when no other trainers come here," she looked at Inu and Snarky, smiling. "Aw, cute. Snivy was your starter huh? Are you going to challenge the gym?"

White nodded. "That's my plan, but I haven't heard anything about the gym leader or their Pokémon types."

The girl nodded. "Well, there's three gym leaders. But you only fight one. You'll have to battle the younger brother, Chili, because he has a fire Pokémon."

White's eyes widened a little. "A fire type? But Snarky is weak against fire types, and I haven't trained Inu-chan very much…" She looked at them a little nervously, and Snarky shivered.

"Oh, well at least you know your effective types. You could get a few more pointers from the trainer school south of the Pokémon center."

"A school? Well, I guess I could try it out later…I'm gonna train for a bit though." She nodded and Snarky puffed his chest out, crossing his arms. The girl smiled, digging in her bag and handed her a Pokéball.

"Here, take this. I know it's kind of random but I love helping the newer trainers. Battling against types you're weak to is scary." White took the Pokéball and looked at it.

"A Pokémon…I can't accept it though, it wouldn't be right."

"No no, I give all the trainers Professor sends out a Pokémon. It's just to balance your team out a little bit."

"So, did you see a boy with dark hair and a blonde girl with a green hat?"

"Yup, and a few before them. Juniper sure chose a lot of trainers to send off early, huh? Well, good luck, I wanna watch your battle at the café!" She smiled, walking around white to go break up the boys' fight.

White watched her walk away, looking at the Pokéball carefully before holding it out and released the creature inside. A blue and tan monkey with a water spout shape on its head came out, yawning and looking around before looking up at White with fox eyes. She waved. "Hello, I'm White." Her Pokédex beeped and she pulled it out, going to the newest entry.

"_PANPOUR: The Spray Pokémon. The tuft on the top of its head contains water that contains lots of nutrient. If it must thrive in dry environments, it dampens itself with this water."_

She looked through the other entries while she was there, including the Woobats that had flown overhead and the pink Pokémon that had followed the nurse—Audino. The monkey scratched its head, looking around more and squeaked to Snarky, who replied with a similar, lower toned one. Inu-chan went and started sniffing the new party member, giving her a big lick on the face. Panpour whined, wiping off her face and squirted water back in the dog's face, earning a yelp.

"Whoa, you know water gun?" White blinked, and the monkey nodded, spitting more water on the grass and made Snarky move out of the way. "That'll be super effective on a fire type that the Chili guy has…this is great!" She smiled, kneeling by the Panpour. "You need a nickname…"

"Whi—ite!" The trainer's thought process was interrupted as she looked over her shoulder to see Bianca running towards her, holding her hat onto her head. Snarky squeaked, getting out of the running girl's way and kept near White. Inu-chan yapped, bounding over to meet their new guest.

"Bianca?" White got up, getting half glomped by the blonde girl. "Ack! Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Going to train, duh! And and—I'm going on a lunch date with a red haired hottie!" She squealed. White blinked, looking at her before the ground, and back up.

White smiled. "Congrats, I'm going to lunch with this green haired guy in the café too."

"Then it's a double date! Well, I just hope he pays, he seemed a bit arrogant."

White rolled her eyes, just smiling and blowing it off as her flighty friend had. "Yeah, stupid boys."

"Speaking of stupid boys, Cheren has been at the trainer school since last night! He must've slept in that place reading books about strategy." Her eyes stopped on Panpour, who tilted her head at the blonde.

"Aw, you got a Pokémon too! That girl is really nice; she told me all about the gym and who I'd be battling, I can't remember his name now…"

White shrugged. "Ah well, by the sounds of it us three will be battling different trainers anyways." She looked back at Panpour, still trying to think of a name when Bianca grabbed her by the arm.

"Will you come to the Dreamyard with me? I heard a scientist was looking for a rare Pokémon that can control dreams!" her eyes were sparkling as White nodded, also intrigued.

"Sounds great, but why would a scientist be interested in that?"

"The Pokémon apparently gives off some kind of incense that she can use in a project. I'm no good at science, but I really wanna meet a Pokémon that can do that!"

"Same here, I wanted to try training Inu-chan anyways, ad Panpour too."

"Great! I saw some tall grass in here." She pulled White into a break in the fencing. A tall cement structure was built and dilapidated, crumbling in parts, pillars being all that was keeping a top level up. Some stairs lead up onto the roof, but White was unsure if she wanted to brave going on top of the place. The center was open and had some wider pillars, dirt spots, as well as tall grass. Some Pokémon were heard around nearby. Upon walking over a hill, they reached the center of the Dreamyard, to see a floating, pink floral Pokémon and two metallically dressed people.

"Come on you stupid Pokémon, cough up the dream dust!" One said, kicking the pink creature into his partner. It let out a chiming cry of distress as it was pushed around. The second trainer got a Pokéball.

"Let's just battle it until it gives us more."

"What are you doing?" Bianca gasped, running over to the clearing. White was pulled along, her three Pokémon having to run to keep up with them. "You can't attack Munna like that, who are you?" She demanded, then recoiled behind her friend as the first male shot her a glare. Bianca and White's Pokédex started to beep, Bianca was the one to pull hers out.

"_MUNNA: The Dream Eater Pokémon. It is always floating in the air, absorbing people's dreams. When the dreams are absorbed—people no longer remember their dreams, and Munna releases a pink mist"_

"We're getting the dream dust we need, now be gone kids!" The second said and the first silenced him.

"They have Pokémon as partners; I think the boss would like us to liberate them too!"

White tisked, glaring. "Bianca, this is Team Plasma. They're bad news."

She looked up at White, bewilderment on her face. "How do you know them?"

"We—me and Cheren—heard their leader give a speech in Accumula town. They want to take and release everyone's Pokémon."

She looked at her friend for a few more seconds. "So…they don't use Pokémon?"

"They do, they're just hypocritical."

"We are not! We battle for our cause, lady!" The second retorted, flustered, and earned a slap in the arm by his knight partner.

"Be quiet, Felix! We do our job. And if they're in our way of getting the dream dust the Seven Sages want, we must get rid of them!" He pulled out a Pokéball, and Felix nodded, doing the same.

"What are Seven Sages?" Bianca let off of White's arm, and she shook her head.

"I don't know Bianca but this is a bad time. I'll battle this guy and you take the other." She stepped in front of the first Plasma member, Bianca flanking her to go in front of Felix.

Inu-chan ran up from behind Snarky and jumped in front of White, growling. White nodded. "Let's do this Inu-chan." She said quietly, Snarky and Panpour keeping behind them. Felix shimmied away, digging out a Pokéball too.

"You sure this is a good idea, Wyatt?"

"Go, Patrat!" Wyatt ignored his partner, letting the small gopher-like Pokémon face Inu-chan. The inu barked, and the rat made a chattering sound back at him. White frowned but kept their battle not far from Bianca's.

"Inu-chan, tackle!" White started off the battle, and from there everything was set off. Patrat was attacking quickly, landing several hits on Inu-chan before he managed to knock him back into his trainer, putting stars into his eyes.

"Patrat! …kids aren't supposed to defeat Team Plasma!" Wyatt howled, enraged. Felix started to panic when he partner lost, his Purrloin being dispatched by Bianca's Pansear shortly after. White let out a sigh of relief, nodding to her puppy Pokémon that was still determined to scare off the pair. He barked, not being too threatening, but he tried. Bianca let out a deep breath she had been holding in, fishing through her duffle bag for a Pokéball.

"Return, Pansear, thank you!" The red monkey yowled a little in accomplishment before disappearing. Bianca put the ball away and White glared back to the Team Plasma members.

"Okay you two, leave that Munna alone!"

Felix looked to Wyatt, who had a contemplative face on. "What do we do?" Wyatt shook his head, a hand going to his forehead. He glanced back at the injured Munna, moving his leg to kick it one more time but stopped.

"We must retreat, and hope the sages will not hear of this."

"We already have." A voice boomed from behind a concrete pillar. White jumped and Inu-chan gave a yelp, both looking over to the voice. The green and violet cloaked sage Ghetsis stepped out in a flash, looking at the grunts with distaste.

"M-my lord Ghetsis! We—" Wyatt started, and was silenced when the person he spoke to appeared on his other side, glowering down with his red monocle.

"We, Team Plasma, exist to separate Pokémon from foolish trainers…If you cannot fulfill your duties…" His face was shadowed, eyebrows furrowing. Felix started to shiver, looking at his partner.

"This isn't Ghetsis when he's gathering followers…or control people by tricking them."

"Right…this is Ghetsis when a plan has failed, and he's going to issue a punishment," Wyatt sounded worried now as well. "Let's scram!" He and Felix both took off running, jumping over the Munna and pushing Bianca out of the way. She shrieked in surprise, adjusting her hat and looking to where they ran off—a path of dust showing where they tread.

White looked back at where the medieval duo ran off, looking back to glare at Ghetsis. Instead, she was glaring at a grassy patch further away. "Where did he—" She stopped, hearing a low chiming sound. A floating, pink and purple Pokémon hovered to Munna, giving off a pink mist as it flew.

"Shaaaar…" The floating Pokémon called. Munna rolled back to its small feet, starting to hover up next to the larger version. White looked between them when her Pokédex started to beep. She withdrew it, opening the pink lid to see a picture of the Pokémon in front of her.

"_MUSHARNA: The Drowsing Pokémon. The mist coming from it is filled with dreams it has eaten from people and Pokémon. It can make shapes of things from dreams out of the mist."_

White shut the lid once the screen turned black, setting it back in her bag. "What's a Musharna doing here?"

"Did we just dream that the Ghetsis guy was here?" Bianca asked, looking around the area suspiciously. Behind them, a woman with long, flowing black hair ran towards them.

"You two! Hey!" The woman stopped next to White, still much taller than the younger girl. "That's a Musharna…!" Her eyes practically sparkled behind her glasses. Said Pokémon looked at the woman, then the Munna. The two gave a short bow to the trainers before floating into the grass, disappearing in a cloud of mist.

White tilted her head slightly, but Bianca stepped forward. "Fennel, something weird just happened! There was Munna, and Team Plasma, and more team plasma! Then Musharna and…now you." She sighed, getting a nod from Fennel.

"I think I followed that…well, Munna was in danger. Perhaps Musharna was just defending its friend by creating an illusion of a Team Plasma person." She adjusted her glasses, looking down at White. "Pardon me, I'm Fennel, a scientist here. I've been looking for—Dream mist!" Her eyes lit up again, running behind White before she should shake her hand. White smiled nervously but looked back at the professor running around the pink fog with a jar.

"Pleasure to meet you, Fennel…I'm White."

"Pleasure! Oh my god, this is the last piece of my project!" She capped the jar and ran off, picking up dust just as the grunts had. "See you ladies later!" A distant call was heard. White gulped, looking as she ran off.

"Well. She's excited."

* * *

"Come on Bianca, We don't wanna be late for our _double date_!" White teased, laughing as Bianca started to blush. She pulled her hat on further.

"Oh shut up, you're just as excited. We get to see the gym before we even challenge it!" White nodded in agreement, coming around the last turn from the Dreamyard back into the city. "By the way," Bianca stopped walking, pointing back towards Route 2, "Fennel's lab is on the second floor of that building there. She said I could visit any time, I'd say it applies to you too, White!"

"That's great; we can stop there after lunch."

"White!" The girl looked away from her shorter friend to see Cilan on the steps of the café, waving to her with a nervous smile on. White smiled and waved back, much more casually. Looking from the green haired male to her friend, Bianca walked to the steps with her.

"Hello Cilan, this is my friend Bianca. She said she has a lunch date here as well."

"Yo, Bianca baby!" White heard from behind her, turning to see Bianca doing the same, waving excitedly. An average height male with blazing red hair started to stride down the pavement, saluting to the blond girl. His clothes were in the same category as Cilan's—very much like a waiter.

"Hi Chili!"

"Chili?" White jumped, looking from Bianca to the red haired boy, then Cilan. "Did you say the gym leader I'd face would be…"

"Oh, yeah…Chili is a gym leader here…and um…" Cilan started to fluster under the pressure, and Bianca looked up.

"Wait, Chili didn't you call the gym leader I'd fight something like Cilantro?"

"Cil…antro?" Cilan paled, frowning and held his head in his hands. "…Forgotten elder brother…"

White looked between them, starting to get dizzy and confused. "I don't understand, what's going on?"

Chili hopped up the steps, standing next to White at her same height. "Me, the amazing Chili, and your gym leader miss! My brother here is gonna be Bianca's gym leader, and the other one Cress is whoever chose a fire Pokémon as a starter."

"Three gym leaders…" White looked at Cilan. "Why didn't you say you were a gym leader?"

"I can't handle the pressure…!" Cilan turned red, backing away, thinking White was angry. She shook her head.

"Sorry…but that's an important factor. Cheren will be facing your third brother then," she looked back at Chili. "So I'm battling you, and Bianca's having lunch with you. Kind of random, right?" She gave a smile, Chili reciprocating it and smirking.

"Oh right, lunch…about that—"

"We're just waiters!" Cilan practically sobbed. White rose and eyebrow and pat the now crouching gym leader as reassurance she wasn't angry.

"You're gym leaders. You must be powerful, and we appreciate the invitation to have lunch without feeling awkward…it's kind of spoiled now."

"Well, actually I was gonna say that Cress had the idea that our lunch date was more along the lines of a gym battle,"

White stared at him, Bianca did too. Cilan finally stood and gulped, fidgeting a little as he waited for the girls to answer. They were still staring at Chili, wide eyed. He finally replied:

"What, girls dig battles, don't they?"

* * *

**A/N: GYEEEAAAH.**

**It's finally done…good jesus.**

**Four thousand of these words were written in a car and the others here at home D: about 1500 of them just now and I'm tired…**

**I'm so sorry I've procrastinated on writing this! I went to the anime convention (as said above) and sort of put this off.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this slightly-longer chapter...I kinda thought my other two chapters were 6k words each, not three XD Consistancy fail!**

**I'm a comment whore, so please comment!**

**Oh, and if any of my other watchers are here…I'm working on a chapter of Kitsune Secchuu!**


	4. Chapter 4: Striaton Gym

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon!**

**A/N: I don't got much to say this time o.o; except that I'm sorry about the wait…Thanks for all the comments, and I'll try working harder now that I'm working on this and another fic, as well and rewriting an old one. **

**I've got ideas for so much later in this fic T_T Makes me sad that I'm taking the slow route.**

**BUT…I will skip over some gym battles and such IF YOU WANT ME TO. Because this is a Ferriswheelshipping fic, we need N, and he doesn't appear too often. I'll squeeze him in here-and-there, but if I do it too much I don't know if it'll have the same effect.**

**I've also started another fic Q+Q digging a deeper hole for myself…**

**Please gimme your feedback on that idea, and enjoy this chappie!**

* * *

[CHAPTER 4]

White glared at Chili, who started to laugh nervously. "I'll take that as a no." Bianca started to look in her bag, appearing to get even more flustered, which made Cilan feel more uncomfortable.

"I had kind of wanted to train after lunch."

"We can still have lunch! Promise, as an...apology for our middle brother's scheme." Cilan looked between the girls expectantly. White smiled and nodded, getting a bit of a grin.

"If you both buy us lunch, we'll battle!"

"Pfft, women." Chili muttered and caused Cilan to elbow him.

"How about whoever loses our gym battle pays? I-if that is alright."

"I can live with that," White nodded again, and Bianca gulped a little. "When do we start?"

"I'm ready to go!" Chili put his hands on his hips, giving White and Bianca a cocky wink. Bianca blushed a little but nodded in agreement. White smiled.

"Great, then who should go first?"

"We have three stages, actually. We could battle at the same time" Chili grinned. "And you can invite yer dude-friend with too."

"I know where he is!" Bianca waved, jumping down the small steps and ran off behind the Pokémon Center. The two gym leaders and challenger stared, shrugging. White fidgeted her fingers slightly, being in between the two brothers that were probably staring at her too. She turned to look up at them.

"So, uh, who is your other brother?"

"Oh, Cress? He's pretty chill I guess." Chili shrugged, getting Cilan to nod in approval for not saying something immature.

"I'm sure he's nice." White nodded too, looking down the street where Bianca disappeared. She hadn't been any farther than the Pokémon Center, but someone said the school was by that, right? Her conclusion was proved true when Bianca came out from behind some tall brick homes, waving. Cheren was at her side with a book in his arms, disturbed from his learning but certainly looked excited.

"I found hi-im!" She chimed, pulling him up the stairs with her. Cheren gave a short bow to the two leaders, and they both reciprocated it.

"You must be Cheren! White and Bianca mentioned that you are taking the gym challenge as well, so we invite you to battle our brother."

"Sounds like a plan." The raven haired boy nodded, putting the book into his bag. White smiled, and Bianca teased him for being such a bookworm he didn't hear her call the first time. The gym brothers looked at each other then waved for the three challengers to follow.

The Nuvema trainers entered a quaint cafe with its owners. The two brothers headed to the back of the room, around tables of onlookers. Opening a pair of wooden doors, they revealed a massive arena filled with rocks.

"This is one room; the door over there leads to the second gym and then stairs up to the third. Whatcha think?" Chili grinned, looking at White expectantly. She nodded, smiling.

"It looked pretty awesome. Are all the fields different too? And are there usually people stalking you…" She looked over her shoulder, where several girls drinking tea were looking over. Chili looked back at flashed a smile, causing the girls to chatter excitedly.

"Nah, the battle fields are pretty much the same. I just don't use the third floor much."

"Why?"

"Oh, I'm a bit...down to earth when it comes to battling." He tapped his chin before replying. White had a hard time believing that, but still nodded in understanding. Before Cilan could interject, a medium sized male with wavy blue hair skated in on roller skates, doing a spin. A few girls squealed, and White only raised an eyebrow. He stopped next to Cilan, holding a tray with a teapot and cups on it.

"Hey Cress." Chili half waved to his brother. White looked over the taller, skating brother that went to her side once she did.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"Ah, no, I'm okay really. Nice to meet you."

"So, you're who I'll be battling?" Cheren spoke, looking him over as well. Cress spun around to face him and smiled.

"I suppose so!" He skated to a table just outside the gym doors and set down his tray, some girls asking questions that he waved off.

"So Cress, wanna tell the ladies about that plot of yours with lunch?" Cilan asked the blue haired waiter, who looked at him with a straight face.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Whaaat? Cress, you said to ask them for lunch and battle 'em. Lights, camera, GO!"

"Chili, I think you're combining two different phrases…"

"Shut up, Cilan, I've got it all making sense in my head. By the way, not it on the second floor gym room!"

"I used it last time!" Cilan complained, and Cress nodded in agreement.

"And I used it before Cilan."

Bianca leaned over to White, whispering very conspicuously. "They argue more like a married couple than brothers…" White shrugged, agreeing quite a bit, and not totally wanting to imagine the three married. Chili stomped his feet and crossed his arms.

"Well fine! But I pay the least amount if we lose this lunch bet!"

"Deal." The two other brothers said bluntly, crossing their arms too. Cheren raised an eyebrow and then adjusted his spectacles.

"Well then, if we may begin sometime today before we'll be betting on dinner prices…"

The triplets looked over at the silent boy, then each other and nodded. "Right. Cilan, you can use this room with Bianca. I will go to the back, and Chili gets second floor." Cress announced and the two others nodded, Chili giving a hearty salute before taking White's arm.

"C'mon babe, we're goin' up!"

"It's White." She frowned a little but allowed him to lead her back. Cheren and Cress followed behind them, and Cheren went up to White's side.

"Remember your type advantages, and here." He handed her a potion. White smiled and nodded her thanks to him.

"You sure learned a lot at the school, huh?"

"Not really, I'm born brilliant," he grinned. "Good luck." He turned to the left of the room they entered, Cilan going to the opposite side.

"You too!" She waved, putting the potion in her bag. Chili led her to the side of this gym room and opened a door, revealing a flight of stairs.

"I don't like it cuz it's all creepy, and no one ever comes up here to watch the battles…they'd rather watch my brothers." He muttered, releasing White's arm to allow her to climb up the narrow stairwell. White raised an eyebrow at the last statement she heard, but decided to pretend she hadn't.

"Well, as long as it's not haunted I think you boys can handle it." Winking, she made Chili smile a little. The stairwell was steep, but once reaching the first doorway it opened up into an arena like the ones on the first floor, and the stairs continued up to a viewing area above them. There were smaller boulders littered over the painted field to show the designated arena for their gym battle. A small balcony was over the left side, and windows were on the right. The downstairs ones had balconies on all sides, and White figured that was why not many decided to come up this way.

Chili looked around the ground, seeming to stop and recognize where small holes littered it. White raised an eyebrow, curious to why they would be important to him, but turned to face him in the trainer's square on her side.

"Okay White, I have two Pokémon! Should it be two on two or all for all?" He put his hands on his hips, calling across the room. White looked at her belt, seeing her three Pokéballs lining them.

"Two on two is fine with me!" She called back. _"I've been using Inu-chan a lot lately, I can train Snarky and Panpour more…I never did get a name for her…" _

"Well, one of our judges is sick today, but I think we can both tell when our Pokémon can't continue," Chili stood up straighter and had a Pokéball in his hand. "Go, Lillipup!" he threw his Pokéball onto the field, the small puppy appearing. White nodded, having seen several trainers with the dog Pokémon just on the trip from Accumula town.

"Snarky, Showtime!" She threw his Pokéball out, the grass snake stretching as he returned from his rest. Chili got a grin on his face, but didn't make any other statement that wasn't a battle command.

"Lillipup, use work up!" The puppy jumped, spinning around in a circle as if chasing his tail as his paws turned red, then stopped after a moment. Tail wagging, it seemed to grin at whatever his move had done was successful. Snarky tilted his head, unsure of what he'd done as well, but White decided she might as well ignore it.

"Snarky, Tackle!" The snake was shaking from his confusion and charged towards the puppy. The dog hopped to the side, avoiding his attack. Snarky wheeled to a stop, turning to face the dog that then countered by biting Snarky's tail. He shrieked, trying o break free of the dogs jowls.

"Use Vine whip!" White flinched at her companion's cry of pain. The green vine appeared shortly after the command, throwing the dog off him. Snarky got his bearings, tail lashing, he started to swing the vine repeatedly at his foe.

"Try dodging, and then use bite!" Chili's voice broke through the assault, the small dog jumping over the next vine and going for Snarky's tail once more. He gave a cry, running away from the snapping pooch. White gulped, eying her Pokémon as it started to flee.

"Come on Snarky, you can do it! Use tackle!" Snarky turned tail and smashed his small body into the dog, making it yelp and retreat backwards. Chili grimaced slightly as the grass snake calmed himself to stand back in position again.

"Use Work up again!" Once more, the puppy Pokémon started to chase its tail and it's paws grew brighter red. "Now bite!"

Lillipup ran around Snarky, trying to get at his tail again. Snarky's paw turned green as it was about to use vine whip when the dog caught him, biting. He howled in pain, much more intense than the last attack. White turned pale at the noise.

"Snarky!" She looked across the field to a smirking Chili. "What's work up doing?"

"You don't know? Well, it boosts my Lillipup's attack!" He grinned, giving the thumbs up "Gonna pay for lunch, hun?" White glared; keeping quiet she heard sounds of battle below her. She would not be the one to lose.

"Snarky, vine whip!" Snarky was wincing in pain trying to get the puppy off him, but managed to reactivate his attack. The vines started another ongoing assault, lashing at the small Pokémon until it finally was tossed back into a rock.

"Lillipup!" Chili yelped, looking over at the rock where his Pokémon struggled to stand. Beating him to it, White called another attack.

"Tackle!" Snarky jumped forwards and head-butted the dog backwards onto the field once more, kicking up dust. The cloud faded, and the dog lay there with swirls in his eyes.

Chili frowned like a child pouting, pulling out his Pokéball and recalled him. "You did great, Lillipup," he looked up at his opponent. "Good show, lady! But I'm about 'ta turn up the heat!" He retrieved another Pokéball.

* * *

"_How brutal." _The battle's observer thought, leaning against the railing high above the arena. _"It's all a game. Absolutely, the winner receives the prize, but the winner is also a loser."_

* * *

"Like the Red Hot Chili Peppers?" White put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at the triplet.

"Yeah, sure! Go, Pansear!" He threw the Pokéball he'd been holding. A monkey, similar in appearance to Panpour, appeared rubbing the back of its neck as if tired. The flame-like tufts of hair on its head looked similar to Chili's. She realized how bad his pun was upon seeing the fire Pokémon, and hearing her Pokédex beep. "C'mon babe, can't wait all day! Ladies first." Chili crossed his arms, his Pokémon doing the same while looking at his Snivy opponent.

White now looked at her Pokémon, he was panting and parts of his scaly form were dark green like bruises. His tail was the worst; it almost looked like it was bleeding from where his trainer was standing. _"Snarky's hurt…but if I recall him now he'll need to come back in of my second Pokémon loses…"_

"_Remember your type advantages…" _Cheren's voice echoed in her head, like a professor discouraging an action. She nodded to herself, thinking, and did remember she was at a disadvantage.

"Snarky, return!" She got his Pokéball in her hand, but the small snake just limped over, sitting in her square with her. He didn't want to miss the battle, and smiled up at his trainer. She nodded, putting the Pokéball away. "You did awesome." She looked at her bag, and pulled out her newest Pokémon's ball, determined.

"_Water is good against fire, after all." _She threw the ball and Panpour appeared on the field, squeaking as she saw the other monkey. Chili raised an eyebrow and smiled, like he knew.

"Pansear, work up!" The monkey, instead of chasing its tail, started to jump eccentrically. White's eyes narrowed, not sure on the other's moves.

"Panpour, use water gun!" Said Pokémon pursed her lips and shot a burst of cool water at the other primate, making it squeal in pain. Chili huffed; frustrated that Panpour had been able to catch Pansear while he increased his statuses. "Yes!" She fist pumped, feeling she still had a chance. Panpour chimed and clapped her paws.

The fire trainer grimaced, but switched it to a grin shortly after. "Use dig!" Pansear gave a lazy cry and got claws, but looked down at the field, then back to his trainer. "…Aw hell, this is second floor!"

White's eyes widened. Was that what the holes were from? A Pokémon digging through the floor? She hoped they were fine, but was wearier of where to direct Panpour. The Pansear on the other side of the field 'ooked' and 'eeked', trying to find a spot he could use the move he was commanded to do. Chili kicked the ground angrily. Darn those brothers!

"Use Incinerate instead!" The monkey jumped up and let out a screech, three pillars of flame appearing around Panpour. She yelped, feeling the heat but was not overly effected, rubbing her arms a little to shake off some of the burning, steam rising off her shoulders as her water properties helped cool off her skin.

"Water gun!"

"Incinerate!"

The attacks clashed, the fire causing the water to evaporate and create a thick fog of steam and water. Some droplets of water fell back to the field like a small rainstorm. The steam dissipated slowly, both contenders looking on expectantly. Pansear was wet, visibly so, and Panpour had scuffs and black scorch marks on her arms. They stood, shaking from damage, and Pansear fell onto his back, more swirls adorning his face. White stared as Panpour panted and looked back at her, giving a thumbs-up notion. Squealing, White ran over and picked up the monkey, spinning as she hugged the wet creature.

"We did it!"

"Ook!"

A red flash returned Pansear to his Pokéball, and Chili gave a small smile. "You did great," he walked over to where White was petting Panpour's tuft of hair. "Congrats babe, here ya go," he handed her a small CD disk, as well as a small diamond shape. It had all three colors the brothers decorated themselves with: Green, red, and blue. "This is the Trio badge. It'll have traded Pokémon listen to you easier. And the CD is that move I told you about, Work Up. You can teach your Pokémon it. Cool huh?"

White nodded, taking them from him and smiled. "Thanks Chili!" She set Panpour down, adoring the badge. Snarky hobbled over, looking up at it with intrigue. "We got our first badge!" She smiled again, doing an epically dramatic pose, which Snarky soon imitated. Chili grinned, looking her over a little conspicuously.

"C'mon, I think yer friends are done battling too." White nodded, following the red haired leader down the stairwell after recalling her Pokémon. She would need to head to the Pokémon center shortly, maybe spend the night. As she turned to withdraw Panpour, who had been where she set her down, she saw some green exiting the balcony. She frowned, tilting her head, before following Chili when he called for her. Looking up the stairwell, she saw no one.

* * *

"White!" Bianca turned from Cilan as the last two battlers returned. Said girl waved, Bianca holding up her gym badge. "Look, I did it!"

"Congrats, me too." White showed her the badge while pulling out the pink case they had to hold badges. Cheren nodded, flashing his before remembering he had the case to put it in. Cress smiled.

"All three of you did marvelously. So I suppose we need to treat you to lunch, yes?"

"Yeah!" Both girls cheered, and Cheren pushed his glasses up.

* * *

"—and from here you wanna go to Nacrene city; there's a gym there that serves as a museum." Cress told the Nuvema trainers as he poured them tea. Cheren nodded, marking down some notes in a book he had instead of checking the map he'd been given. Bianca, sitting next to Chili, started going on about how she'd love to visit a museum like she had when she was younger. White sat in silence, only thanking Cress when she received her drink.

"So, where are you three from again?"

"Nuvema Town." Cheren spoke, blowing his tea so it wouldn't burn his lips.

"Oh, like that last kid."

"Yeah, he was pretty tough."

"Yes, Axew often behave that way."

"What last kid?" White interrupted the conversation. Not surprisingly, Bianca and Cheren were both looking at the gym leaders too.

"Oh, this kid came in about a week ago for a gym battle. He had an Axew, said the professor had already saved the next shipment of starters for three others. Dunno how Juniper managed to get such a rare thing, they only show up in a cave nowhere near Nuvema." Cilan said, obviously having been the one to fight him.

"I never heard about another Nuvema trainer leaving."

"Maybe it was because they didn't get a starter from the professor?" Bianca said inquisitively. Once she said that, White remembered the molded foam to hold a fourth Pokédex. Would there really be another trainer from Nuvema they'd never heard about?

"Thanks for lunch!" Bianca gave a small bow to the brothers, who returned it in unison.

"Congratulations on your victories. Good luck with the rest!" They spoke together, Cress and Cilan waving while Chili did a 'call me' motion to both White and Bianca.

As they left, parting ways while Cheren went to the school and Bianca went to say goodbye to Fennel, a green haired young man stood from his table, leaving his tea cup onto the provided plate.

"Good work."

"""Yes, sir."""

**A/N: Bit of a twisty ending yes? I'm sure you all know how to solve some mysteries in this chapter, such as: The person watching White's battle, the fourth trainer, and perhaps the last one. It'll develop more as the story goes!**

**I've decided to skip the Nacrene gym battle, but do not fret! The museum and recovery of the skull will still occur…NEXT TIME!**

**Read and review PLEASE. Thanks to everyone that added this story to their alerts even if this was a very late update!**

**Off topic, I've thought about making a story for yaoi one-shots for the Pokeboys. Mwaha.**

**Better get this one going as well as Othello…hmmph. Me and my procrastination. PEACE /shot/**


	5. Chapter 5: Route 3 & Nacrene Challenge

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, this is fanfiction and I am but a fan.**

**A/N: ***yawn* well, if anyone also reads my Bleach fic, you'll know I was on vacation for a week and am very very tired. Good news is that it is summer, and I should be able to update more frequently if I get off my lazy ass.

Ahem…so, it's been a while since I've done this story so I may have forgotten my plan for this chapter, but I get the vague idea.

Unrelated news, I got to the Pokémon league in my game on the car ride home yesterday XD easiest victory road ever in my opinion. Deino is so keyoot and wittle…*snuggles it, gets head bitten off*

So anyways, I should start dis up nao…

Please leave me feedback if you want me to skip certain things, or you'd rather have me add in N here and there.

Enjoy!

* * *

[CHAPTER 5]

As White headed towards the west end of the city, she passed the school that Cheren must have visited. Not wanting to bother him, she got a head start on the next city so she wouldn't forget the brothers' directions. While they'd been having lunch, Cress had shown the trio a built in system that served as a Pokémon Center in their café, so Snarky was once again following his trainer. He bounced along, running through a field of grass and small wildflowers, squeaking happily at the beautiful autumn day. White didn't want to tell him that soon it would be winter, and all the flowers he saw would wither.

The grass snake picked up a little flower he spotted, and then grabbing a few more to make a teeny bouquet. White snickered, watching him amuse himself and got squeaked at several times for laughing at him.

"It's okay Snarky, not laughing at you!" She added, getting a few squeaks and a wave of an ivy tail, the small Pokémon continuing his flower picking. White slowed her pace to allow her Pokémon to play, eventually releasing Inu-chan and Panpour to enjoy the great weather. "Okay guys, you can play here and I'll see if I can find anything around here. Then we need to get moving." White told them, getting simultaneous nods from her partners.

She smiled, watching them bounce away to play a game of tag or hide-and-seek in the grasses, heading down the path herself. She took a deep breath of air, stretching as she walked around to explore. Not really knowing what to expect, she started to wonder if going through the grass without her Pokémon was a good idea…Cheren had said Pokémon attack in the tall grass. She shook her head—she hadn't seen one trainer since walking (though she wasn't far from the city) and her Pokémon were nearby.

Inspecting the landscape, she saw a little light reflecting in the grass. Approaching the shining item, she moved some leaves that covered most of it.

"Whoa, there's a random Pokéball here," she said, picking it up and pressing the button, opening to reveal the grey mirrored insides. "Empty. Good, it'd be horrible if a Pokémon got lost." She stood, looking over the Pokéball. It was in excellent condition for something laying on the ground, so she put it into her bag for later use. Rustling of grass caught her attention and she turned towards it suddenly. Looking around for anything horribly vicious, she gulped. The tall grass parted, and a Purrloin hopped out and rubbed against White's leg, purring. She breathed a small sigh of relief, raising an eyebrow at the kitten.

"Purrloin…are you the same Purrloin from Route 2?" She knelt down and pet the cat, who responded by rubbing her head against White's hand. She smiled. "I'll take that as a yes. How'd you get way over here?"

"Hey, you!" White looked up at the male's voice, a youngster approaching her. She stood and was a good foot and a half taller than him.

"Hello, did you uh—"

"I challenge you to a battle!" He pointed dramatically, getting a bit too close for comfort.

"…That was random. Sorry, I don't have any of my Pokémon with me."

"That's a lie! Look, you have them on your belt, and that Purrloin!" He pointed more rapidly, making White turn her head to keep up.

"Oh, these are my Pokéballs, but the Pokémon aren't inside them, see?" She took Snarky's Pokéball and opened it, the mirrored interior blinding the kid for a moment. "Sorry."

"Whatever, you still have a Purrloin!" He rubbed his eye, hand on his hip. White looked at the cat still rubbing against her legs.

"She's not mine either, honest. She just followed me here from Striaton city."

"A likely story!"

"Oh. Glad that you agree!" White smiled, holding her hands to her chest and doing a typical cute look. "Excuse me, gotta get back to my friends." She started to walk, Purrloin hopping after her gracefully. The youngster, appearing very cross about this, kicked a nearby bush and began to stomp away.

That's when an equally cross Tranquill flew from the shrubbery, giving a loud screech and attacked the kid.

White turned around, seeing the battle unfold and ducked to miss a flying wave of dirt the pigeon had swept up. The youngster started running off down the path, the bird giving mad chase. White gulped, heading back to her Pokémon, who were rolling in the grass.

"Panpour, come with me, quick!" All three Pokémon sat up, the monkey making an 'ook' sound and bounded after White down the pathway. The newbie Pokémon trainer chased down the dirt path to the youngster and his pursuer. The boy had called out a Lillipup to combat the Tranquill, but the unfortunate puppy was easily dispatched by a wing attack.

"Use water gun!" White said as she got within range of the raging bird. Panpour hopped even closer and blasted water at the flying Pokémon, soaking its feathers. The Tranquill stopped its attacked and turned around, fuming at a new opponent that it could defeat. Panpour made another monkey noise and jumped out of the way of the bird that swooped at it. White gave a small yelp as she had to jump out of the way of the bird's wingspan.

"Hey girl, that thing'll attack you too cuz you pissed it off!" The youngster got himself to his feet. White glared over.

"_You're_ the one who pissed it off!" White rebutted, ducking so the bird's talons just missed her visor. Panpour gave a screech when said pissed-off avian attacked her. White refocused herself on the battle, seeing her blue Pokémon roll back from the attack.

"Panpour, try water gun again!" White called across the clearing, her Pokémon bouncing to her feet and spraying the oncoming bird again. Tranquill was sprayed once more, shaking its feathers of water and landed in the grass. It gave a cry, fanning out its wings and about to take flight again when White heard her Pokédex go off.

Funny, it hadn't been going off before. From habit, she reached into her back and withdrew the sleeping device, which made the noise once more upon seeing the bird.

_TRANQUILL: The wild pigeon Pokémon. People believe it will return to its trainer wherever they are, ad that places they reside are peaceful._

"Peaceful, sure." She scoffed at the not-at-peace bird. White concluded her Pokédex was being silly and telling her about an older Pokédex entry and not the bird. She didn't care about any stupid glitches now as she had to dodge a gust attack.

"Panpour, keep using your water gun!" White said as she ducked, her Pokémon bouncing over once more to fend off the bird. Tranquill lost what little patience it had, using multiple quick attacks on the monkey and threw it back into White with a screech. "Panpour!" She gasped, holding her fainted Pokémon. The Tranquill flew nearby, both trainers not having their Pokémon with (Purrloin must have stayed behind with Snarky, White couldn't find her). "Crap…"

"Use Dragon rage!" White snapped herself out of her thoughts as a purple and red beam hit Tranquill in the air. It squawked and floundered to stay in the air, looking around for what attacked it and almost was hit by a second beam. It flew up, dodging the beam, and then took off over the trees. White breathed a sigh of relief, turning to see a small green Pokémon that looked almost like a shark with tusks.

"Kid, you didn't say you had another Pokémon!" White scolded the boy across the field from her, who was also holding his Pokémon.

"What you talkin' about, lady? I don't have another Pokémon, that Axew isn't mine!" He stood, holding his Lillipup and ran into town to get him healed, not thanking White for her rescue efforts. White raised an eyebrow, having sworn she heard a male's voice call on the dragon rage attack. Before thinking any more on that, she looked down to see the small dragon smiling up at her. Her Pokédex started beeping, but she ignored it.

"You are so cute!" White smiled, petting the little dragon. Its smile grew as wide as its tusks allowed, nuzzling her hand a little and gave an adorable 'axew' sound. White giggled, about to stand straight when she saw sneaks approaching her and patting the Axew. It squealed in happiness, climbing into the person's hand and up his arm to sit comfortably on the shoulder.

White watched it climb up before standing, amazed to see a boy that could probably pass as her brother. He had short, slightly curly brown hair under a red and black hat and wore a blue and white jacket. His pants were plain grey, and his shoes matched his hat. He was looking White over a little himself, and then adjusted his messenger bag strap.

"Hello there!" he smiled, friendly. White's cheeks turned a little pink, but she smiled back.

"Hi. Thanks for helping out back there." She said a little nervously, a little disappointed that the wild Pokémon was more powerful than hers.

"It wasn't a problem, really!" He laughed, Axew making a happy face and nuzzling his cheek. "We were just training nearby, right?" He looked at his dragon Pokémon, who continued snuggling.

"Oh, are you going to challenge the gym?" She looked back towards Striaton city, and the boy shook his head, reaching into his bag and showed her a small gift box— inside was the Trio badge. "Oh, you got one already too? That's great! My friends and I got ours earlier." She smiled, still proud of the victory and pulled out her badge case.

"Those brothers are really something, huh? I'm just training up before Nacrene city," he was still smiling and casually stroking Axew. "Oh, sorry, my name is Black. Nice to meet you…?"

"My name's White." She smiled, a little curious about how coincidental that was—looking so similar to a total stranger hero, and then having a name opposite to his…

And he was cute…

She shook her thoughts away before her face would break out into red. "It's nice to meet you Black, but I need to get back to my other Pokémon and get Panpour healed."

"Other Pokémon? Shouldn't you always keep them with you?" White did turn red at being reprimanded for such a silly mistake.

"…Yeah, but I didn't expect to have to try saving that kid from a Tranquill."

"That, and other trainers might try to capture them." Black crossed his arms, seeming a little thoughtful about that idea. White looked up at him, and then headed down the path quickly. She didn't even want to think if those weirdo Team Plasma idiots found her Pokémon!

"It was nice meeting you thanks bye!" She called as she ran back to the opening of the clearing. She breathed a sigh of relief as Snarky and Inu-chan were sitting in a patch of grass with flowers in between them. "Hey guys…sorry that took so long. Let's get to Nacrene city quick, okay?" She picked out their Pokéballs and recalled Panpour and Inu-chan, Snarky not wanting to do that and hugged her leg with the adorable eyes. "Okay, you can stay out." She snickered, patting him on the head.

"Wow, that's a Snivy!" White jumped as she heard the male voice of her new acquaintance behind her. She whipped around to see Black, and was about eye level with him.

Screw siblings, they could be twins.

"Um...yeah. Snarky is my partner." White looked down at her grass snake, who looked up at Black's Axew. He then started prodding White's leg, until she looked back at him and he did the 'up' motion. She snickered but picked him up, and he proceeded to climb up her arm and sit on her shoulder. He grinned quite smugly at the green dragon, who them tilted his head.

"Snarky's a good name for him then. I'm kind of jealous!" Black snickered, and White smiled.

"Sorry…my friends got the other two starting Pokémon from Professor Juniper just a day ago. Black seemed to flinch a little at hearing this, but smiled again.

"Oh, so you are one of the new Nuvema trainers? That's an honor, really." He said, and then looked further down the road where a woman was walking in their direction. White didn't notice until he did, looking over in her direction and turned red.

"Mom! What are you doing here?"

"Hi White, honey!" She waved and made her way over. Snarky squeaked and crossed his arms as she approached. Mom pat him on the head. "Sorry dear, Hi to you too," she looked back down at her daughter, who's face could only be described as pouting. "Well, I was cleaning your room and I found a pair of new running shoes I forgot to give you!"

"…you walked here to give me shoes?"

"Well I didn't think you'd be this far! I tried calling your Xtransceiver, but you didn't answer." White blinked and checked her bag; the transceiver did say missed call on it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We were going to Nacrene city for the gym battle."

"You already got your first badge! I'm so proud of you! Did Cheren and Bianca succeed too?"

"Yeah, Cheren is studying and Bianca is hanging around in town for a while." She didn't know what was keeping the flighty girl so long, but she _was_ easily distracted. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Black backing towards the path.

"Well White, I'll let you guys catch up…seeya later." He half waved and disappeared down a side path. White was going to say something, but he was already gone.

"Who was that honey? He looked familiar," her mom nudged her "and _cuuuuute_!"

"MOM…he just helped me out earlier. He's a friend."

"You have a lot of male friends, don't you? I never thought of you as a tomboy, really…"

"Mom…shoes?" White reminded her mother, crossing her arms so she and Snarky looked to be doing the same thing. She giggled, reaching into her large purse and pulled out a shoebox. Thank goodness White had small feet.

"Here you go, dear. Just be careful. And don't tread around in mud. And don't lose them. And—"

"Mooom," White snickered, taking the box. "Thank you. You worry a lot."

"I know," she smiled "I just want you safe. Don't cause trouble, and call me." She hugged White, being careful of where Snarky was on her shoulder.

"I'll be careful mom, really, I don't cause trouble." She smiled. The thought of those medieval goons crossed her mind, but then realized she shouldn't worry about them. She hugged her back before letting go, Snarky waving as mom headed back to the gate to Striaton. White snickered, opening the box and changed into her new shoes, "Perfect for getting where you need to go fast!" the box proclaimed.

"Well, since we made it here we might as well get to Nacrene City for Panpour to get healed." White picked up her bag. Snarky nodded, waddling along the dirt path to lead the way. "Purrloin?" White looked around the clearing once more for the purple kitten, and didn't spot her. "Must have ran off…oh well, I guess." She sighed but followed her squeaking snake down the path to the next city.

* * *

_Blue eyes peeked out from behind the bushed trail, gulping. "What was she…with her…?"_

* * *

White yawned, the sun already to the ground again. "…What is it with us taking a whole day to get to another town?" She asked Snarky, who had slowed his pace to walk next to her. She saw the flickering lights on the nearing town, just past an entry gate. She passed through the gate, waving to the guard that was still at his post, maybe trying to doze off behind the desk. Entering the town, she was greeted by warehouse-like buildings, made of scrap metal and wood. Street lamps flickered on as the last built of sunlight disappeared down the horizon. People dispersed and either went to their homes, or to a lit up building a block away, the bright lights reaching over the small houses.

"I wonder what's over there…" White commented as she saw the beaming lights. Snarky couldn't see them from his line of sight on the ground, poking White's leg until she picked him up. "See? Over there." He pointed over the buildings. He tilted his head with a squeak, hopping out of her hands and starting to bounce away.

"Snarky! We need to go to the Pokémon center first!" She called to him, making him stop his newest adventure. He squeaked again, remembering the mission, and headed instead to the recognizable white and red building a block away. White snickered and followed the marching snake to the center. He stood in front of the automatic doors expectantly…but he was too small to activate them. Giggling a little, White hung back from the door as Snarky started hopping up and down on the floor mat, flailing his tiny limbs. White's snickers turned into laughter, before she walked over, and the doors slid open. Snarky stopped flailing and crossed his arms smugly, either proud of what his technique did or embarrassed from what it didn't do.

"Good job," she controlled her laughter on the proud Pokémon, picking him up and going into the Pokémon Center. She set Snarky and her Pokéballs on the counter, a familiar pink haired woman taking them from here. "Whoa, you work here too?"

The nurse turned and stared at her before sighing. "…All the nurse's are my sisters, cousins, or of some other relation…You probably met my 3rd cousin in Striaton city, or my younger sister in Accumula town."

White stared, a bit dumbfounded as she noticed a large photograph covering the entire back wall of the center. "I'll get your Pokémon healed right up!" The nurse started to smile again and carried the tray of Pokéballs and Snarky to the back office.

"Thank you…" White went into the lobby, looking at all the décor. There were family photographs, as well as a large map of the city. The largest spot on the map, next to a café, was the large Museum. A description was below the piece, describing the artifacts within—and a library that lead into the gym leader's quarters.

"So that's the gym…maybe that's what the lights were coming from." She said to herself under her breath, hearing a small bell.

"Miss, your Pokémon are healed." A shorter, brunette nurse wearing a pink dress carried Snarky over to White on the same tray as her two Pokéballs.

"Thanks!" White turned and smiled, picking up Snarky and putting her Pokéballs back on her belt.

"Are you taking the gym challenge?" She glanced at the map before to the taller trainer. White nodded, petting Snarky as he yawned.

"Yep, this museum here is the gym, right?" She motioned to the map, and the nurse nodded.

"Yes. But I heard that tomorrow is a busy day for the gym leader, a lot of trainers have flocked to the city for the museum's 25th anniversary. Lenora, the gym leader, is giving a prize to the trainer that passes the museum's quiz and then defeats her."

"…sounds like a challenge." She grinned. "What time does this tournament start?"

"Tomorrow…but that's in an hour." The nurse smiled. "Lenora doesn't mess around, she goes from midnight to midnight. If you want a suggestion…you should go to the museum—the building with the lights—and research the artifacts before you challenge them in the morning."

"That's a great idea! Thank you." She smiled, offering her hand. "I'm White, by the way."

"I'm Jill, pleased to meet you. Nurse Joy is my Aunt, so I'm helping her out. I'm glad I got my dad's genes though." She smiled, making White laugh.

"Thanks for the advice," she looked down at Snarky. "Ready for some midnight studying?" He stared at her for a while before he swished his tail, getting a smile. He was ready for anything. "Great! Tooo the Nacrene Museum slash gym!" She fist-pumped and headed outside the Pokémon Center. Jill waved to them as they left to take on the challenge.

* * *

"_Sabotage."_

The voice echoed in his head.

"_Sabotage her. If you want what I promised, she must not go further."_

* * *

**A/N: o3o UM. I had a hard time closing this up…and just being able to think of what to happen next. In fact, I spent a week on a half-page that I realized doesn't belong in this story!**

**Oops, I may have spoiled something. Nah ;3**

**So very sorry for the long wait! Along with that vacation a month ago, I got super slammed with art and writings to do for things with deadlines, and working T_T I apologize that writing for you guys got shoved to the backburner while I got my crap together.**

**Since I made you wait…I'll let you know: There will be a story made to pair up with this one. Maybe 2, but definitely another one (considering I wrote that much for it pff).**

**Please R&R, tell your bros, and all that jazz. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: Pinwheel Forest

**Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, Satoshi Taijiri, and Game Freak.**

**A/N**: I started writing my Othello chapter before this, and realized I should try keeping a back and forth order for as long as I can XD…I'm sort of leaning to having more fun in that fic than this one right now, because of lack of anything overly original. *sigh*

All my ideas are for so much later *sob* But, I will try to finish off Nacrene and its Route in this chapter, and get the whole Castelia city thing done next time. Things don't heat up in the game until Nimbasa city onwards, so please bear with me!

And yes, there will be plenty ferris-wheelage and Subway twins. *swoon*

Anyways, enjoy! I'm happy this is as popular is it is T_T N lovers unite?

*does the update dance with Lawliet-senpai.* I had to, I giggled so hard at what I imagined as "The update dance"

I will probably draw it xD

* * *

[CHAPTER 6]

White exited the white and crimson clinic, more excited than she had been that morning. She turned around the block with her partner, Snarky, and marveled at the creation down the city streets. Walking down the sidewalk of the "Times Square" of the humble city, Hollywood lights were waving through the darkening skies outside a massive, pearly complex. It reminded White almost like the house in America that was made for their leader, but she figured that the Nacrene Museum was definitely a sight to behold.

Snarky made a chirping noise, the leafy end of his tail wiggling in an attempt to shake the awe and excitement out of his tiny green form. White smiled, watching him hop a few sidewalk squares ahead of her before turning and waiting for her to catch up, scolding her each time. She smiled, just teasing him by leisurely sauntering after him, and took her damn time while doing it. The little snake was nearly bouncing in impatience every time White would stop to laugh. He gradually went from taking two sidewalk spaces away from her to three, then four, and finally five when he turned a corner without her.

"Snarky! Don't run off!" She called, quickening her pace and turning after him. He stood a space away from her, looking out across the path. White sighed in relief, going over and picking him up. Squeaking, Snarky looked up at his trainer and made a pouting face, pointing down the street. "Nuh-uh, the museum's entrance is straight, not right." She referred to the map Jill had shown them in the Pokémon Center. Snarky shrilled, pointing at the right-facing concrete once more before White turned back towards the crosswalk. She didn't understand whatever he saw and was so intriguing, but whatever it was, it wasn't there any longer.

White looked both ways before crossing the street, carrying Snarky, who by now had given up on changing her mind with his protests. She made it to white stairs leading up to the shining doors with the museum hours on it. At the top of the steps was a large sign: "Attention Trainers! Lenora wants _you_ to participate in the Museum's 25th anniversary challenge! Apply inside!"

Moving past the sign, she pushed the tinted-glass doors open and stepped inside, gulping. The first thing she saw was a desk for a receptionist, and a blue-carpet path around the establishment. Artifacts were placed on pedestals with glass boxes covering them, a plaque in front of it on the railing for guests to read about the history. The grandest display was what all the carpet circled around—an enormous fossil, complete in its entirety, towering over all the patrons and historians. White 'wowed' and went to the plaque, feeling like she was about to be stepped on by the Pokémon remains.

"It is believed that this Dragon Pokémon was flying around the world when it had an accident, causing it to become a fossil. Isn't that fascinating?" White nearly jumped out of her new running shoes at the chipper male voice suddenly to her right. She looked over, seeing a tall, dark-haired man with glasses and a white coat on. He was smiling ear to ear, looking up at the fossil. Upon not getting a response, he looked down at her, laughing. "Excuse my manners! I am assistant director of this museum, call me Hawes." He extended a hand kindly and leaned down to hide how tall he was over the younger girl. White nodded, taking his hand and shook.

"That's a good story, Hawes. I'm White, I'm here for the—"

"Miss White! Oh, I'm sure you're here for my wife's challenge! Here, let me give you a tour of this fine museum." He put an arm around her shoulders and began walking her down the carpet. White felt herself shrink, this guy giving her the creepy vibe, but also the intelligent one she often got when she was near Cheren.

"Lenora is—"

"Yes, I'm married to the gym leader. We share an interest in History and preserving it. Now, this here is a meteorite with some strange energy it collected in space…" He led her to, indeed, a small meteorite about the size of someone's head. White nodded, still being hurried along and trying to remember what he was talking about at the same time.

"So, this quiz challenge…it's about these artifacts?" She asked as they walked to another pedestal.

"Most of it is, yes, but those doors up there," he pointed a finger up a flight of stairs and a dark doorway. "Lead to our library. You may find answers there as well." He stopped in front of a small case with a plain, pearl-like object in it. White didn't ask, figuring she would be interrupted by his explanation anyways.

"This is just an ordinary old stone we found in the desert."

"Ordinary? Why have something ordinary in a museum?" White raised an eyebrow, leaning forward to read the plaque, which indeed said "Old stone" and "Desert" on it.

"Oh, it's just old. Museums have many old mysteries in it, we hope this is one of them…it is perfectly round with some grooves on it. If it's some old civilization's artifact, it is very well-crafted," he sighed, dreaming of some ancient scenario, "and beautiful to look at, but as of now it holds no value."

"That's cheap." White frowned, reading the plaque once more before looking into the glass and seeing the pristine orb. She saw her eyes reflect on the glass, and then reflect on its glossy surface, marred only by the swirling grooves. Suddenly, a shrieking roar reverberated in her ears, her eyes widening and she backed away from the director and the case. The shrieks persisted for a few more seconds before suddenly cutting off. Petrified, she continued looking at the case, which remained silent. She swore she saw it turn a red-hot color for only an instant, and when she blinked, it was pearly white once more. Hawes looked at her curiously as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Miss?"

"I'm okay. What about the library now…?" She looked back at him, interested in continuing the tour and being lead as far from the small case as they could become. He nodded, granting her wish and taking her up the stairs to the dark entryway he mentioned before.

"Through this door is the gym! Once you've gotten all the information you need, come find me and I'll tell you if you pass or fail."

"Thank you, Hawes. Is anyone else here for the challenge?"

"Oh yes, there were two boys from Nuvema town in here studying. They passed the test but decided to call it a night. I think if they challenged her now they would have a chance, in all honesty. The first one to defeat her gets the prize." White blinked at hearing the mistake of saying there were two males from Nuvema, given Cheren was the only one from this year's trainers, but ignored bringing it up.

"Yeah…but would Lenora really want to battle someone at, say, two in the morning?" She smiled and Hawes shrugged.

"I suppose that is why she began it at midnight, to give them more time. Still, she loves a challenge," he winked. "I'll let you get to studying, Miss White! All the books you need are on display." He waved his hand, Snarky looking up at her and waved his tail. He wasn't tired, and it showed he was ready to get this quiz over with. White smiled and nodded, patting Snarky on the head and went into the library, intent on finding the books she needed to get through the exam, and give Lenora a challenge.

* * *

"Correct!" Hawes clapped after rubbing sleep from his eyes. White breathed a sigh of relief, having spent an hour or more in the now-empty library and museum reading about Poffins and Locomotives. The library had a few students also studying, but they turned out to be trainers that challenged White so she would be able to read a specific book. Snarky was on her shoulder, clapping with Hawes and stopped to yawn. "Congratulations, Miss White. You completed the quiz. Are you ready to challenge Lenora?" She looked over Snarky, who was slightly damaged from battling so many normal-type Pokémon. He waved his hand, leading the sleepy teenager to a healing station across from where he stood.

"Uhmm…maybe...we should get some sl—" She stopped, looking at the director, who was now staring down the steps and into the exhibit hall. "Hawes?"

"…oh dear…" He slowly stepped down the stairs, and White followed after him, albeit sluggish. She made it down about four steps, while Hawes continued down to the ground floor. White observed the darkened museum, a few lights kept on just for the people still studying, but the receptionists had retired for the night, and there were no guests. But she noticed something, or rather, lack of something.

"Hawes, the fossil!" White headed down the stairs in one hurrying leap, catching up to the director that was staring at his headless statue. The dragon Pokémon's massive bone structure was no longer complete, the large head of the creature mysteriously gone. Hawes was simply in shock, gulping.

"I…I must have fallen asleep at the library entrance…I'm the only one still working."

"Not the only one," a feminine voice came from behind White and the assistant director, both turning to see the addition to the room. "There must have been someone left in the museum to steal the fossil." She was stout and dark skinned, her hair being pulled back and out of her face. She wore a pink apron that covered most of her front, and to her side was a medium-sized dog whose fur was shades of brown and black. White's Pokédex started beeping, but she didn't want to hear about the dog, she already had a guess to what it was.

"Lenora, I'm so sorry!" Hawes turned, the moon coming in from the numerous windows and reflected off his glasses. Lenora smiled but pulled him into an embrace, patting him on the back.

"Calm down then, dear! We'll get it back, I don't blame ya' for catchin' a few Zs!" She laughed, ruffling her husband's hair before giving him a peck on the cheek. She released the now-blushing assistant as he began cleaning his glasses, and the woman turned to White. "Mornin', I'm the gym leader Lenora."

"H-hello, I'm White…shouldn't you be chasing down the criminals?"

"Ah dear, they must be long gone by now…probably headed to the forest for cover."

"Forest?" White looked back at her, remembering the west exit of the city having trees on it.

"Mhm, the Pinwheel forest is on the west side of the city. It's a dead end trail, so they made the bridge to get to Castelia city. Still, they probably plan on taking it there to sell it or something." Lenora sighed, obviously tired as her dog made a low bark. White's eyes narrowed, getting a plan, and Snarky placed a tiny green fist into the palm of his other paw, thinking the same as she was.

"I'll go get it." White nodded, her partner squeaking in agreement.

"Pinwheel Forest is quite dark, there's lots of tough bug Pokémon that'll cause your little Snivy some problems."

"If someone doesn't go after them now, they'll get away!"

"She's right, Lenora. She was here to take your challenge; I think we can let her try." Hawes spoke up, looking to his wife for her to agree. White nodded, no longer sleepy with a mystery to solve. Lenora looked at White, raising an eyebrow and seeming to doubt her, she smiled.

"Child, I know you want to help, but the Pokémon in the forest aren't to be messed with. You haven't had much experience in battling, and your Snivy has yet to evolve." Snivy squeaked, insulted, and hugged White's shoulder, enjoying his small size and portability.

"I don't need evolved Pokémon to hunt down a thief. We can do it, and what happens, happens. I wouldn't mind if Snarky stayed the way his is forever. I know he and my Pokémon are tough!" White crossed her arms as Snarky sat on her shoulder to copy her. Lenora sighed, having White giving her that look, and Hawes smiling reassuringly.

"Okay, but please take care," Lenora nodded, giving a smile. "I need to stay here and watch the rest of the artifacts, but I'll point you in the right direction." She headed towards the door, her dog and White following.

Once outside, crickets chirped and the street was completely devoid of people, street lamps being the only source of light anywhere. Lenora took a right out of the museum, passing a large patio with a café sign above the wooden doors. She passed fences and patches of grass until coming to a fork: One going between a line of trees, and one south to a clearing. Lenora pointed to the treed path.

"The forest is past that, once you go through this tunnel, go north, and then west. If you continue going north you'll end up in Castelia. The place is a bit confusing, so get in and get out as soon as you can. Most wild Pokémon should be resting, do not disturb them."

"Got it, they wouldn't like getting woken up."

"But I hope they are awake, that means some others have been rustling around their territory. Good luck." She nodded, her dog snorting as he turned back towards the gym with its trainer. White looked at Snarky and the tunnel, taking her steps into the even darker trail.

"You ready, Snarky?" He made a cry, nodding and shaking the sleep from himself. "Great, if you get tired, just tell me and I can switch you out for—"

"White!" She heard a female voice and turned, a small brunette in a pink dress and bag chasing her through the tunnel, panting.

"Jill? What are you doing here?"

"M…my aunt…" She panted, catching her breath. "My aunt tells me to stay in front of Pinwheel forest to heal any poisoned Pokémon…but I saw some weird people carrying a fossil from the museum. I went to tell Lenora but I just missed you both…her assistant said I'd find you here. Are you really going in there?"

"Of course I am! What'd these people look like?" She changed the subject back. Jill blinked, standing up straight.

"Well...they wore grey and white, with hoods and gloves. Kinda like those knights from TV."

"Team Plasma…" White gulped, Snarky doing the same.

"S-speaking of weirdos…I remember yesterday a few kids going into the forest and coming back right away, saying some weird knights were blocking the way to the forest."

"Thanks Jill, I gotta go!" White (and Snarky) waved and took off down the dark tunnel of trees, and into the forest. Jill looked like she wanted to say something else, but the taller brunette was already determined and unstoppable. White headed north, and found a grassy opening to the west that must have been the entrance Lenora mentioned. She took a few steps in and heard rustling, pausing and taking cover behind a tall bush. From around the corner, two familiar, red-headed faces appeared.

"That thing was really heavy, Wyatt…"

"Felix, the sage wanted that skull, be thankful he let us do the job!"

"I know but…Will was able to carry it himself! He's super strong!"

"You're such a fanboy…" Wyatt sighed heavily, walking past the bush White was hiding behind. White started sneaking around the other side of it so she would be behind the Plasma blunderers. Her vest got caught in the tree she was sneaking between, causing it to rustle while Snarky turned and tried to tug it free. The Plasma members both stopped.

"Didja hear that?" Felix looked left and right. White gulped as Snarky got her vest free and hid behind the tree just in time as Wyatt turned and looked around.

"I did."

"It's a monster!"

"I seriously doubt that," Wyatt got a Pokéball and enlarged it with a click, stalking closer. "Come out, come out…" Snarky bit back a growl in favor of keeping quiet. White reached onto her belt and retrieved a Pokéball as it also made a clicking sound. Wyatt seemed to pick up on it. "Go, Sandile!" He threw the Pokéball to reveal his new Pokémon, a small tan and black crocodile. White's eyes widened as her Pokédex started that annoying beeping mantra, causing her to growl. Busted.

"Go, Inu-chan!" She got herself out of her tree cover enough to throw the Pokéball, her puppy yapping and yawning.

"Oh shi—it's that chick from the Dreamyard!" Felix gulped, backing up a step. Wyatt scoffed and clipped him on the arm.

"Idiot, we've gotten stronger, she still has the same little Pokémon."

"Don't call them little! Use Tackle!" She commanded to Inu-chan, stopping his stretching and leapt for the crocodile. Sandile waddled backwards upon getting hit, its hard skin being able to take most of the damage.

"Use bite!" The crocodile focused back on Inu-chan and opened its jaws, sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. Inu-chan yelped and ran back towards White, yipping in fear of the jaws of the rival Pokémon. Wyatt laughed, while White got swirls in her eyes, having a puppy behind her legs.

"We need to train some more…" she said more to herself and stepped around Inu-chan as the Sandile stood by its trainer, a grin on its snout. "Come on, Inu. I believe in you. You're faster than that Sandile! Now attack again!" Inu seemed to smile and nodded, bouncing forwards at a quick speed and hit the Sandile in the jaw while it was distracted. Surprisingly, the croc flew back several feet, leaving Inu-chan disorientated. White blinked, pulling out her Pokédex and scrolling past its alerts.

"You know take down?" She blinked, Inu-chan regaining his footing. _"But…that means Inu is stronger than I thought…he might evolve soon." _She thought after looking over Lenora's Herdier's Pokédex info.

"Pay attention!" Wyatt growled, helping his Sandile back onto its stubby legs. White nodded, determined. "Sandile, use bite again." Wyatt stepped back from the crocodile that charged towards the dog. Inu-chan barked and jumped over the bite, hopping onto the jaws of the croc and made them snap shut. Sandile growled, trying to turn around quickly and bite the puppy again, when Inu-chan got off his back and tackled him in the side, throwing him once more. The crocodile landed on his back, wiggling and trying to roll onto his feet like a turtle would, swirls in his eyes.

"Yeah!" White smiled, Inu-chan's tail wagging proudly. Wyatt grumbled, recalling his Pokémon.

"What're you even doing here, chick?" He snarled, not having any other Pokémon.

"I came on errand," she crossed her arms. "And I just like kicking your guys' butts!" She waved and ran down the path into the forest, carrying Snarky and Inu-chan on her heels, Wyatt and Felix shouting as she got out of range. She snickered along with Snarky, Inu-chan panting with his tongue hanging out as they explored the forest. It was dark and tall grass was hard to see, as was anything that may have been hiding in there.

"Okay guys, we need to stay quiet." White whispered, getting nods from her Pokémon. She maneuvered around in the dark, getting further into the twisting woods. She almost tripped over a fallen log, catching herself on the ground near it, seeing a black abyss all around the log. She gulped, thankful she hadn't fallen. She set Snarky down next to Inu-chan, recalling them both so she could walk across the log without putting them in jeopardy.

She stood, the log too crookedly shaped for her to crawl across properly. She carefully balanced herself, and took her first step. The center of the log was fairly flat, White being able to get a good hold and took a second step. She wobbled a little, gulping as she began to make her third step. She got her hold once again, able to stop her unbalance. Giving a short smile, she repeated a mantra of "I know I cans" in her head. From her fifth, to sixth, and her ninth step, she could see the grass only three more away. The log was on a slight incline, unnerving the teenager, but it would not impede her last few steps away from the abyss. She took her tenth step, not expecting a twig to be protruding the log in that one spot, her foot slipping away from its surface. She wobbled, falling to the side and off the log.

Her arms out in the classic balancing position, gravity started taking hold and pulling her down to the depths. She shrieked, attempting to grab the side of the land she'd seen inches away moments before. She snagged a vine, but it came loose under her weight and snapped. Just before she fell too far, a firm grip was around her wrist, and once it had a strong hold there was another reaching out for her other hand. White didn't even care what was going on at his point, adrenaline getting the best of her rationality, and the instinct was "Do not fall." She grabbed the second hand and was lifted swiftly onto solid ground.

Her chest heaved, her knees bent and her hands on her knees, catching her breath. _D-did I just… _Her thoughts were as incomplete as her speech probably would have been, looking to her side to stare down the black pit. She couldn't see how far down it was, but didn't want to find out anyways. After several seconds she looked up at the taller person that had hoisted her up.

"Th…thank you." Her breath hitched in her throat again at what she saw. Thankfully, this section of the forest allowed the moon to peek through the leafy trees, as most had not lost their foliage from the season changing. First, there was a strongly-built male on her left, wearing a familiar grey and white uniform and hood. From what she guessed, this red-head had been the second hand to grab hers and pull her up. He did indeed look strong, muscles tight under his chainmail-like costume. As if seeing this grunt before her was surprising enough, the second person was.

He wore a simple, white button-up top, and had his hands behind his back elegantly. Off his belt hung a nearly-glowing cube in the dark, the moon hitting its geometric surface brilliantly. Sea-foam green hair framed his face, and was tied loosely behind his neck and trailed down to his waist. The only thing that earned no glow from the moon was his face, the brim of his black and white hat giving him a sinister appearance, despite a gentle smile on his face.

"We meet again." He said with his smile growing, tilting his head up to give her a view of brilliant emerald eyes. White gulped, standing up straight and looking up at both males standing only three feet from her.

She was dumbfounded, if the grunt had pulled her up with his strength…

That meant N had grabbed her wrist, saving her.

The grunt looked at N, seeming about to say something when N made a cutting motion, silencing him.

"Thank you for your help, sir." N smiled, shooing him down the grass. The grunt growled, not enjoying that demeaning tone the strange trainer used, but headed further into the forest. N looked back to White, and White looked back at him.

"What happened?"

"You fell."

"Before that!"

"You more than likely stepped on that log, and slipped." N's smile hadn't changed; his tone however, was completely serious.

"No, you! What are you doing here? It's like, two in the morning! And why did you have the Plasma flunky with you?" She shot out the questions to her newest (and most peculiar) rival.

"Doing here? I was on a walk. I love this forest…the Pokémon in it sing so happily. Even at night, it's beautiful," he sighed longingly, not getting the same affection-filled reaction from the girl in front of him. "And that "flunky" as you call him was here when I was. I was just leaving the forest when I saw you walking. He was guarding something further along, and when I came and caught you he also came and pulled you up. Quite the strong fellow, isn't he?"

"He's guarding something? Nearby? If you were so close how don't you know what he was doing there?" She voiced her suspicions again, looking him over. N gave no sign of being surprised by her questions. He removed his hands from behind his back, palms up and to his side as an overdramatic shrug.

"I couldn't tell you, my lady. All coincidental. This forest turns and weaves in every direction. I did not come from the same place he had."

"A likely story."

"Comforting to know you agree," he smiled, putting his hands back behind his back and rocked on his heels idly. "Now, why were _you_ here? Not to practice for trapeze, I imagine." White turned a shade of red, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"I'm looking for something."

"At two in the morning? Why were you not with your companions?" His smile almost turned to a smirk, nearly mimicking her earlier questions.

"Yes! It's urgent. I called my Pokémon into their Pokéballs so they wouldn't fall. If you'll excuse me I have to get moving." She nodded, trying to be at least somewhat polite as she went around him. He flashed another smile before crossing his arms.

"Good morning then, Miss White. This shall not be the last time we meet." He hopped across the log, keeping his balance perfectly as though he just glided down. White frowned, not amused with his attitude and confusing speech, but forgot it. She headed in the direction the red-headed knight went, having a good suspicion to what he was guarding.

* * *

…

[Congratulations! Your Lillipup evolved into Herdier!]

White stared in awe as the glowing white faded around her not-so-small pup. Nearly doubling in size, he now had dark colors added into his ruffling coat. Inu-chan shook himself, knocking some glittering light away from his pelt as he barked and wagged his tail. White stopped staring and hugged him, girly scream included.

"You evolved! You're so cute!" Snarky, on her shoulder and wounded from the battles that had just taken place, cheered as well. The plasma members looked amongst themselves, now that they had been defeated. An elderly man wearing a coat similar to Ghetsis's sighed.

"We admit defeat, this time; we will return the skull to you. It is not the item we were hoping it was." He waved a hand and the guard, Will, carried it to White, still scowling at her. White straightened herself, taking the large skull from him and tried not to drop it because of its weight.

"T-thank ya." She gulped. Will stared and let out a very loud sigh, taking it from her.

"You're weak."

"…Yeaaah." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"I will take it to the entrance of Nacrene city. Then you can drag it for all I care." He handed his banner to another grunt White had defeated.

"Why would you help me?" White looked up at the muscular man, who headed with his group around a bend in the forest. White could see the path that lead to Castelia city—this forest really was a maze. "Wait a minute, what was so important about that skull in the first place?" She looked at the "sage", as they called him, through the guards of Plasma members surrounding him.

"Do not question Sage Gorm!" A female grunt in between White and the sage hissed. Gorm looked over regardless.

"There is no harm in telling. The skull is no longer important to our Lord's dream. It is not the legendary Pokémon we were looking for."

"Well, duh, it's a fossil." She climbed over a ridge, the others doing the same.

"Do not speak so freely, girl. We will give you the item because it is no longer necessary, but you will not interfere with our ambitions again." The old man spoke gravely, and was cut off by shoes hitting the pavement.

"Stop there!" Another male voice appeared. The Plasma grunts looked over, cursing.

"Sage Gorm, we must retreat!" The girl said back to her leader, who nodded. All in a hurry, they marched off. Will, about to follow them, shoved the skull into White's arms before running after them. White nearly collapsed, keeping her balance and hold on the object even as two more people ran past her.

"Don't leave us!" She heard the familiar voice of Felix in a cloud of dust that he and his partner kicked up in their haste.

"Hey, I …said…s-stop!" The male voice appeared to White's left, panting and slowing his running. He was lanky with curly, auburn hair and brown, corduroy pants with a butterfly belt buckle. White would have paid more attention if her knees didn't nearly buckle and she yelped. The man looked over and gasped, standing straight and pulling the skull back forwards, and White with it. "Easy!"

"T-trying…it's heavy." She sighed, just happy to have someone else helping her hold it up. He nodded, motioning backwards.

"Well, they're long gone. Let's take this back to Lenora."

* * *

"Y-you're a ..."

"Yup! I'm Castelia's gym leader, call me Burgh." The auburn-haired male smiled. Lenora was beside him, hands on her hips, with a large smile. Hawes was currently with volunteer historians to reconstruct the fossil.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet _you_. That was brave of you to go after those thugs in the dark!" He smiled, now petting Inu-chan. Lenora's Herdier was sat in front of White's, as they had already gotten to know each other. White smiled, nodding, but now that everything was starting to calm down, she was getting sleepier. "Lenora tells me you were in the middle of going to challenge her."

"Yeah…I may have gone to rest though." White yawned, making Burgh laugh.

"Sounds like you need it. I look forward to our gym battle." He gave the thumbs up, saying his goodbyes to Lenora before exiting the gym. White couldn't hold back yet another yawn, and Snarky did the same from his perch. Lenora smiled, patting her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, White. You really are a good trainer if your Pokémon can evolve and help you be brave."

"Nah…I mean, I'm glad Inu-chan evolved to help me out, but without him, Snarky, and Panpour, I wouldn't have done it."

"Still, I want you to take this." She handed White a blue piece of polishing cloth, the fabric feeling like satin or silk. White blinked, stopping rubbing her eyes and took it from her, expecting a delicate artifact from the museum. She gasped, looked at a small, rectangular pin with gold and violet markings.

"I-isn't this the…"

"This is the Nacrene City gym's Basic badge. I would enjoy battling ya, but I think you going through the forest and fighting all those thugs, getting the skull, and loving your Pokémon show you've definitely got a grasp of the basics." The motherly woman winked, getting a smile from White and Snarky.

"Thank you! It means a lot!"

"Of course, just come back and battle me sometime if you ever need a recap!"

"Thanks, and good luck with your anniversary." She nodded, pulling out her badge case and set the prize next to the Trio badge.

"Thank ya, and you're definitely ahead of your friends now. Gonna rub it in?"

"Maybe just a bit!" She smiled, waving and thanking the gym leader as she exited the museum, and was looking forward to collapsing into a bed at the Pokémon Center.

The next morning, several challengers entered the museum's competition in an attempt to pass the quiz quickly. Unfortunately, none were able to pass after a navy-haired boy defeated the gym, and a brunette male doing the same. Upon inspection, Hawes found several important pages of the books torn out and stuffed into a couch cushion.

Lenora decided then that everyone would get her prize, a TM that she used in their battle, while wondering who could have sabotaged the contestants.

* * *

**A/N: **Q_Q Almost all of this was written in one sitting…I feel dead. I'm sorry if this is longer than the other chapters, but I need to make them longer to get through this story.

Hope everything was to your liking, I'm happy everyone is enjoying this story :3 Please give me your feedback or any ideas you may have. Thanks~


	7. Chapter 7: Castelia City

**A/N:** Woo…college. I know right? Guh.

Let this be a formal address that college will make me write when I have time and _feel_ like writing. I've been so burnt out this past few weeks, and have only just started this chapter 2-3 weeks after posting the last. (and then again months later ) I apologize for the slow updates that will proceed thus onwards.

I want to thank _everyone _that reviews, faves, and alerts this story. I'm amazed by how popular this story is and we don't even have the guts to it yet! Thanks so much for the commitment and please continue to be patient =3

Enough dallying! You've waited long enough!

* * *

[CHAPTER SEVEN]

"Oh my god," Snarky cooed and looked up at his owner, still sleepy from the long walk they endured through the day. His wide eyes looked away from the girls' vest to instead look at the broad, morning cityscape below them as they descended down Skyarrow bridge's stairs. He squealed, looking up more than his thin neck wanted to stretch in order to see the gargantuan sight. It was just becoming sunset, after spending the last night in the Pokémon center to recover from the adventure in the forest. The city was the largest thing he'd ever seen, considering he'd barely been able to climb onto Professor Juniper's countertop without a chair being present. "This place is amazing…" White took the last step off the bridge, hurriedly going through the gate.

Greeting the officer positioned at the gate, she briskly exited in favor of entering the city she'd never visited, only read about in the popular magazines. White was not disappointed, once she was walking the sidewalks with other business people returning home for the day she did realize how amazing it truly was. The water glistened in the dusk and waves hit the docks littered around the south end of the city, and the bridge stretching farther than she could see to the forest she was at only a day before. The crowd of businessmen and women dissipated as they arrived home after their long work days. The streets cleared, White could see everything at her level much more clearly—a building with Pokémon symbols over the windows, making proclamations of a tower of trainers, and near that the red-and-white building she'd gotten used to seeing.

"C'mon Snarky, we need to catch up on our sleep. Tomorrow we can go see Burgh." She smiled up at the now-wide-awake grass snake, who shrilled in objection for some time before yawning. Taking her time reaching the large, two-story Pokémon center as she observed the seascape, the automatic doors slid open in front of her and she almost collided with another businessman.

"Oh- pardon me!" She smiled nervously up at the bulky man, he smile catching itself as she noticed liquid-emerald eyes staring down into her blue, red hair peeking out from below a fedora-like hat. He gave no notice of her apology, brushing past her and down the street leading to the west end of the city, unvisited by White. Gulping, she happened to watch the muscularly large young man withdraw a white cellphone from his coat pocket, ringing someone for a short conversation before re-pocketing it as he disappeared down an alley. Snarky seemed suspicious, his drowsy, dark eyes watching the figure curiously before White patted him on the arm, retreating into the center. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Taking in the night's rest, White awoke in the morning feeling refreshed and most importantly: clean. The Pokémon center was enormous, having amazing accommodations for every room free-of-charge to traveling trainers for the gyms, and a small fee for any that were not. The nurse at the front (who looked exactly like Joy, of course) had been upbeat, a pot of coffee brewing on the desk next to her. She was fascinated with the small details of Team Plasma and all of White's "Small town" adventures as a kid. White wasn't sure if she wanted to reveal anything about the knightly gang, as she didn't know much herself other than them being meddlesome and all for Pokémon liberation. She thanked the nurse as she healed her three companions and waved goodbye, leaving the doors and entering the once-more densely populated sidewalks. Every person she saw was in the business attire, several speaking on a cell phone or Bluetooth device. Moving herself out of the way of a very rushed young woman, balancing folders and a briefcase while on the phone, she had no time to apologize for almost clobbering White to the pavement.

Snarky squeaked a few comments at all the people frustrating his trainer, also not used to seeing such a swarm of people. Still, White progressed down the street, practically hugging the wall to squeeze by. She didn't even realized she'd snuck down a street, lines of people entering tall buildings and less businessmen nearby, more so men with hardhats and of larger figure exiting a tunnel. Still heading to where there would be more room for her and her companions. Sneaking by into the tunnel, she breathed a sigh of relief at entering the north gate of the city where there was only a group of men in fluorescent suspenders relaxing at a table. The four of them glanced over as White took in a deep breath, not getting the cleanest air ever, but still enough to watch the scrolling electronic board over the gate.

"Oh…well, we passed the gym." She smiled nervous at Snarky, who chattered and crossed his arms. Silly humans were always getting in the way.

"Yer goin' to the gym, girly?" White looked over at the gruff voice of the construction worker closest to her. "Ya passed it by a mile."

"I figured…there were a lot of people on their way to work." She smiled, looking at the map below the electronic board. She assumed that the stars were places of interest, and there were many, aside from one star with the Pokémon league symbol engraved in it. The man took another drink of his coffee, his group mates doing the same.

"If ya ask me," a lean-muscled, middle-aged man commented between drinks. "That Burgh guy is a pushover if ya just go through the desert."

"Why would you say that?" White frowned, having a good respect for the man who helped her, even if he appeared to not be the athletic sort.

"Well, he's a bug freak, and in the desert there's 'nuff fire Pokémon there."

"An' some really hard-hitters," another added.

"Really?" White withdrew her Pokedex, trying to scan through a list. The images of the Pokémon were silhouettes, but their names appeared.

"Yeah, Darumaka is a decent fire type, I guess." White nodded as she saw the figure of a small and very round Pokémon.

"I'd say Timburr is a good pick, he ain't weak or strong to any bug type but he can clobber em' real good." The second man added.

"Guys, Scraggy is still my favorite." The fourth and youngest of the four grinned. He couldn't be over thirty, and had shaggy blond hair while his hat rested in his lap. White scrolled to the Pokémon he was referring to, but the other men continued the conversation themselves.

"Scraggy's are hell'a 'nnoying! If they get in yer stuff they don't leave!"

"And they headbutt and break everything, they ganged up on Greg last week."

"Right, but that makes them good fighters. Don't give up, and hurt like'a bitch." The fourth grinned as the other men laughed, having to agree. White swallowed, putting her Pokedex away and headed to the exit of the city.

"Thanks everyone!"

"Good luck, girly!" Two of the men called to her, the youngest giving an assuring wink as his friends bickered about who had the worse injury from the elusive Pokémon they called Scraggy.

* * *

White was throroughly annoyed, her now clean and freshly curled hair was covered in blowing sand. She hadn't noticed it being so windy back in town! To add to that, Darumaka and Timburr were causing mounds of difficulties, injuring Snarky heavily and Panpour was really getting sick of using her water gun. Her brand-new running shoes were turning brown with sand and wet mud from the construction site blocking further access. She'd only been there the better portion of an hour, too! Not one Scraggy whatsoever.

"This sucks," she muttered for the umpteenth time, the Snivy on her shoulder cooing in agreement, laying down to rest his burns. "Let's go back, you all deserve to be healed." Panpour nodded at White's ankles, starting back towards the gate that was still within sight of the sandy path. Following Panpour, a loud crashing made White turn around. Three Timburrs were swinging their weapons at the construction's blockades, knocking them over. Sighing heavily, White continued to walk while keeping an eye on them. They were chasing a small, big-headed figure that wasn't using its hands to leap from beam to beam. White's Pokedex began beeping eccentrically as she watched, pulling it from her pocket and her eyes widened.

"Panpour, wait!" her frown flipped into a smile, looking at the colored image on her screen. "That's a Scraggy! Go, use water gun to get the Timburr away!" The monkey almost gave a groan but bounced to the site, blasting the three attackers with a burst of water and throwing them back into deep sections of blocked-off sand. They howled, struggling to their feet in the slippery sand. Panpour grinned in pleasure, going to look back at White when she was thrown to the side, landing harshly in equipment. The small, sand-colored lizard snorted, his head poised as he ended the headbutt attack on the blue creature. It began to stride away, successful in losing his attackers. "Hey!" White huffed, Snarky hopping off her shoulder and pursued the lizard as it waddled away.

Snarky caught up to it and used his vine whip, catching it by the feet and making the shedding skin he constantly help up drop. Shrieking, the wild Scraggy pulled them up to his chest, the square-toothed grin snarling and giving a glare to the weakened snake. Releasing the skin that served as pants, it jumped up and steadied itself on its tail, low-kicking Snarky back into the sand. He howled in pain, staying back where he lay with his eyes swirling about. White gasped, running over to pick him up when the Scraggy got in her way, snorting in rage.

"You know, Panpour was just helping you lose those Timburr!" She retorted to the snort, not getting a fond look back from the young reptile. "Fine, go, Inu!" She retrieved her final Pokéball, about to throw it when she gasped, the Scraggy headbutting her shins and making her stagger back. Inu's Pokéball dropped, rolling about in the sand before the lizard picked it up, seeing his wide-toothed reflection in the clean, red surface. "Give that back!" White gasped, going to take it from the Scraggy when he squeaked in shock, stuffing it into his pants and running off. Her eyes now wide, she picked up Snarky and carried him after the lizard as he snuck through the destroyed blockade and making a b-line for the gate. White recovered Panpour from the deep sand, being wary of the Timburrs position as she turned and ran after the lizard, returning Snarky to his Pokéball.

Scraggy escaped into the gate, one of the construction workers choosing an inopportune time to return from his break. "What the—?" He was cut off as White pushed past him and indoors.

"Sorry sir!" White managed to call, echoing through the long tunnel. _"I can't let him get into the city!" _She gulped, running past the other three workers.

"What's the hurry?" Another worker called as White herded the Scraggy away from the city's gate.

"He's got my Herdier!" The Scraggy squeaked and jumped behind the dozing guard's desk, causing him to squeak as the short lizard headbutted him as well. The youngest of the workers stood, watching in disbelief as the Scraggy once more dashed to the exit White was guarding, faking her out by going to the left then dashing to the opposite side, pushing the door open with his head. "No!" She ran after him, still keeping Panpour in her grip as the worker followed behind her.

The city streets were only mildly filled, business workers staying in their offices, the only others on the street being shopkeepers and those running late. Scraggy weaved through their feet, causing an uproar from the frustrated city goers. White apologized as she rushed through a small crowd, a hand on her shoulder a moment later as the bulky worker caught up, dirty blond hair in his eyes as he drew a Pokéball from his bright orange vest.

"Get him closer, you run faster than me," he said under his breath to her, and White nodded. She took off, managing to slip around a crowd that Scraggy was having difficulty getting passed on the ground. He headed back towards the gate, pushing through anyone else in his way—except the worker. "Go, Palpitoad!" In a red flash of light, a large, armless and bulbous frog Pokémon trilled, bouncing on his tail. "Use muddy water!" At that call and the passersby realized the situation. They ducked behind buildings and into store fronts. The Scraggy did not, a rush of brown water leaving the blue and tan toad and crashed onto the street. He yelped, the water reaching past his chest as he struggled to keep his pants on. White gasped, the water lapping at her shins as she was further from the epicenter, but she tromped through the water uncomfortably. As the water reached its height, the Pokéball floated out of the shed skin of the Scraggy, receding back towards the Palpitoad that's attack ceased. The waterlogged Scraggy gulped, looking back as White approached him and he dashed down an alley, knocking over a trash can as he disappeared.

White got past the water, her shoes squeaking and making sloshing sounds. The worker picked up the Pokéball, retrieving a cloth from his pocket and wiping the surface clean of the brown liquid before handing it to White. "Keep an eye on that one."

"T-thank you…" She took it from him, holding it close to herself and Panpour. The worker nodded, a smile appeared.

"C'mon, I told ya Scraggys were trouble. I'll do damage control; you get your fella's healed. Okay?"

"…Yes sir." She nodded, managing a small smile and back out of the area as angry shop keepers took out their frustration on the worker and his Palpitoad for getting their advertisement signs wet. She sighed, once turned away the fake smile faded, feeling horrible for causing so much trouble and making her Pokémon suffer for her carelessness. "I'm sorry, Panpour." She knew Panpour had been most upset, having to bail her out of tough and fiery situations. Panpour shook her head, getting the fox-like smile and nuzzled her to accept the apology. White shivered, the water escaping her shoes but making her socks have that uncomfortably cold and squishy feeling. Everything below her knees was getting marks from how the water had left residue of mud, and everything above that was still blown with sand and sweat from the midday heat and running.

Feeling ridiculous enough with the whole street glaring at her, and the next one giving curiously demeaning looks regarding her attire, she went to the front counter of the Pokémon center as quickly as she could. The nurse, recognizing her smiled, glancing about her attire. "Good morning, Miss White."

"Hi Nurse Joy. Could you heal y Pokémon for me…?" She set Panpour on her desk as well as her other two Pokéballs. The pink haired nurse's eyes widened.

"Goodness, what happened?"

"Well, we went out—"

"Never mind that; you need to be more careful! You could've really injured them seriously." White gulped, never seeing Nurse Joy or any nurse look that upset. She nodded, already feeling bad for hurting her partners over something silly. Joy disappeared with her Audino in back, carrying the small Pokémon and Pokéballs on a tray with her. White took a chair nearby, playing with the fringes on the end of her shorts. She felt disgusting, not just for her state of dress, but in general. A construction worker could solve a problem better. She didn't earn her last gym badge enough, her Pokémon too weak for the challenges of traveling. Sighing, she looked back at her bag and withdrew the Xtransceiver, looking it over before getting an idea. She searched through the information database, dialing the number once she found it.

"Hello?"

"Lenora?"

"Oh, is this White?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What do I owe the pleasure of a call?" The older woman must have been organizing her bookshelves. White gulped, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers.

"Well, I've hit a bit of a snag. Ya see, I was training and a wild Pokémon stole my Pokéball and made a big mess of the city and I didn't catch it and everyone's mad at me for being irresponsible. And I'm covered in sand and mud. That's the gist of it."

"Sorry to hear that. Well, if you need an inspirational speech I supposed I could hook you up with one," Lenora chuckled on the other end, giving a few words to her assistant while White waited. She heard a couch creak as Lenora sat in a leather seat. "If Pokémon trainers weren't having little snags, all Pokémon trainers would be successful gym leaders or league champions. Traveling isn't easy, and I imagine going from Nuvema town to Castelia city is a huge change to you."

"What am I supposed to do though?" White looked over as Audino exited the back room, not for her, but to return another younger trainer his Lillipup. Lenora "hmmed" on the other end of the line, thinking over an answer to give the trainer.

"Well, traveling isn't easy and neither is Pokémon training. There's not a lot of great trainers because they think they can't overcome these things. Believe me, White; you're a special kind of trainer. When I was yer age I took on the gym badge challenge too. After my third gym I lost the excitement, I'd lose to all my friends but beat a gym leader. So I went home, not wanting to stray any farther from home. After that I thought I'd be getting married and spending my time cooking at home and collecting antiques. But when Hawes told me to take on a challenge to replace the old city's gym leader, I didn't want to. Normal types aren't everyone's thing after all. But hey, I passed. I'm glad I didn't give up on training."

"But if you beat gym leaders why would you think you're not good enough?"

"Well, you can ask yourself that. You got my badge fair and square. You haven't even met Burgh yet. Us gym leaders aren't trying to overwhelm you and be super powerful like the Elite, we're there to teach you. If you beat us all, you've practically passed the most important test."

"Please don't say anything like "doing whatever you set your mind to" or anything cheesy like that."

"Okay, I won't. But, it's up to the trainer to decide the lesson they learn. Mine was that travelling wasn't for me, but teaching about history and what works and what doesn't is. The basics." White swallowed again, tossing ideas in her head but sighed.

"Okay Lenora, I'll try."

"Give me another call if you need a pep talk. Seriously though, don't cry over spilt milk."

"Muddy water, actually."

"Miss White, your Pokémon are ready." Nurse Joy called from the counter. White looked over and nodded.

"Thanks Lenora, I need to go."

"Good luck!" The line ended and White put the Xtranceiver back into her bag, pulling it back over her shoulder and retrieve her Pokéballs from the Audino that brought them out. Thanking the pink Pokémon, she called out Snarky as he appeared on the chair nearby, yawning. His burns all treated, it was hard to tell where they'd hit.

"Hi Snarky…I'm sorry you got so hurt," White gave a small smile as the grass snake waved his tail, dismissing the whole ordeal in favor of hopping onto her arm and climbing to his trainer's shoulder. She snickered, Snarky nuzzling her cheek as he made himself comfortable. "I'm glad you're alright. Let's see if we can find the gym, alright?" He nodded excitedly, feeling ready to go. White exited the sliding doors and back into the city, that already seemed to have forgotten about the mess from before. The piers were beautiful, though White was marveling at a gorgeous gold cruise liner towards the east, and a peculiar black ship on the dock next to it.

"Stop!" White jumped at hearing the cry, a darkly dressed person rushing past her and almost being thrown to the ground. Going to snap back at the man, she stopped as a familiar girl in green and yellow rushed past as well.

"Bianca!"

"White!" She turned, adjusting the hat back onto her head. "I-it's horrible! That man—he took Munna!" White looked perplexed, not even aware her friend had a Munna. Tossing that thought aside, Bianca seemed near tears. "I…he just challenged me to a battle…he defeated Pansage and wen I sent out Munna he snatched her and ran off!"

"It's okay, Bianca. C'mon, we'll catch him." She pulled Bianca along with her, running down the street in the direction the man took. He'd already taken off out of their sights, White checking every street for any sign of disturbance. She reached the last alley near a boat and its dock, still seeing nothing. Bianca choked on a sob as White pat her shoulders. Before she could try to calm her down and give an explanation on the man's looks, a young girl ran towards them.

"What's going on here?"

"My…my Munna…!" Bianca gulped and White pat her again, looking back to the short, tan skinned girl with raging and long violet hair. The girl frowned, looking around erratically. "C'mon, I bet he went to that weird boat that pulled up an hour or so ago!" The girl took Bianca's wrist and started to drag her away. "Hey, you! Go find the gym leader and get him on the case too! We'll be down there!" she waved and dragged White's childhood friend with her to investigate. Frowning, White looked at Snarky, but ran up Gym Street (as it was called) in the direction the map from before had pointed, spying a luminescent Pokéball sign illustrating the Castelia city gym. She was about to enter the gym, when a certain person stepped out.

"Cheren?"

"Hi White, come to challenge Burgh? He's a tough guy, for sure." White gulped, wondering how Cheren had beaten her there again. She shook her head.

"No, there's trouble. Bianca's Pokémon was stolen and I need to see him."

"Oh… Bianca? Well he should be right inside," Cheren turned to reenter and escort White through when the tall figure exited.

"There's a party out here? Oh! White! Good to see you again! Get your sleep?"

"Yes Burgh, thank you. But there's trouble and I need you to follow me."

"Trouble?"

"A stolen Pokémon," Cheren butted in, nodding to White. Burgh looked between them both and nodded. "Those thugs might be a part of it."

"Lead the way, White." The gym leader hurried after White, as she was in a hurry herself. If they wasted any more time, he could get away. Reaching the pier where the short girl was tending to Bianca and her story, Cheren went over to comfort her as well. Burgh looked at the purple haired girl curiously before going to the group, putting an arm around Bianca and she ceased crying.

"Okay, you know what this guy looked like?"

"He…he was just wearing this grey suit, and had red hair." White gulped, thinking it over the group of villains may have stooped low enough to steal Pokémon in need of that dream dust, and they had a horrible habit of hiring those of lighter pigmentation.

"Okay, well, Ir…erm, I'll go check down Castelia Street. You two girls look down Mode Street, Cheren can check Narrow Street, and White checks Gym Street. Good?"

"Right." The two girls nodded, Cheren soon following, obviously knowing which street he was assigned and why. White nodded, assuming that gym street was the one she'd just come from. Burgh waved to White, silently wishing her luck as he ran off, his street being the busiest he needed to catch up quickly. Taking the westward path, she went by the narrow road properly named Narrow Street, dumpsters making it even more difficult to pass by, though Burgh knew if there was any trouble Cheren could handle himself. The last road bordered Liberty dock, heading up to the sign of the Pokémon gym. Taking confident steps, White proceeding, looking around every corner and trash can, her Snivy doing the same avidly.

"Okay Snarky, red hair, in a dark suit. You don't think Bianca meant grey, do you?" White looked up at her partner as he shrugged his tiny shoulders. "Right, they normally wear white…what if he was disguised?" the green snake raised an eyebrow at the comment, White rolling her eyes. "Was worth a guess." White continued to walk towards the gym, keeping an eye out until Snarky slapped the back of her head with his tail, pointing over at the alley across the street from the gym. White turned her head slowly, seeing the young man from before removing his fedora to show bright red hair, unbuttoning the top of his suit and revealed the grey and white uniform and chainmail. Under his arm was a sad looking Munna, immobilized by the strong arms of the man. He slipped around the corner and into the building, cobwebs and dust falling off the door as it shut with a squeak. Snivy jumped off White's shoulder and rushed to the door, it shutting right before his snout. White ran up to him and lifted him back into her arms.

"Don't run off like that!" She scolded him before looking in through the dirty windows, the people inside not taking notice. Wiping away some of the caked on dust, White gulped as she saw two men on either side of where she was peering in, obviously guarding the door as a shoulder was obstructing the view of left and right. Thankfully straight ahead of her she saw peculiarly robed men, one with long sea foam hair, and another in tan clothing, and another wearing dark navy, with a small hat on both of their balding heads.

"We've located one of the girl's Pokémon, sir. I was unable to get it's Pokéball to properly release it, however." The man from before said, the Munna under his arm cooing sadly. Snarky's tail thrashed behind White's head, almost knocking her hat off in the process. The green haired man said nothing, the taller man in navy scoffing.

"We cannot use it without its Pokéball!"

"Dreamdust is no longer relevant to our lord's plan, William. A more powerful Pokémon would have been satisfactory." The stout man in tan added harshly, their words not seeming to cut down the young man that could easily knock the elders out. He did not.

"Not only that," the green haired man who had remained silent, barely paying attention to the argument. He turned to face the three bickering men, facing the door precisely where White was peering in to. Snarky's tail dropped to White's shoulder, and the girl's skin turned pallid and her eyes widened. "You've robbed the wrong girl." The man finished, the golden crest over the collar of his cloak glistening in the decrepit building. He seemed to grin, White instinctively flipping herself around, her back against the filthy door and hiding behind the guard on the other side. Her heart rate speding up, she had difficulty hearing what the man began to preach, her only thought running through her mind was _He saw me. He meant me._

Snarky began to prod her cheek, snapping White out of her mantra as she nodded. She peered over her shoulder, looking back into the door as the men were once more bickering, the green haired man facing them but certainly training the red device over his eye at the door. _"Do I go get the others?" _She thought, watching as the men turned and headed towards the elevator in the back of the room. The guards blocking the door followed last, and White gulped. _"No! They'll get away!"_ She grabbed a Pokéball at her side and released Inu, the dog wagging his tail next to her.

"Inu, go find Cheren, Burgh, and Bianca. Bring them here, and fast!" The dog's ears perked up and he nodded, dashing off down the street at great speed, barking as he went to collect the trainers. Looking back in the glass, the group was already waiting for the elevator, the doors sliding open before ceasing. The machine must have been in disrepair like the rest of the building. White took in a deep breath and pushed the rickety door open, feeling as though it almost fell of the hinges. The three cloaked men all looked over gracefully, unlike the lackeys following under them that jumped in near panic. Will narrowed his eyes, the Munna squealing once White entered the near shot building.

"Well, we have guests." The stout man folded his arms, looking over the snake at White's feet that snarled at him.

"Very small guests, Sage Rood." The navy dressed sage tutted in correction, the shorter man shooting a sour glare. White looked at her feet, Snivy unknowingly doing the same. She glared back up at the sages, her fists on her hips.

"I am not small! Now return Bianca's Munna!" She demanded, a knot catching in her throat just as she finished as Ghetsis gave an amused grin at what was unfolding. The Plasma grunts formed a wall between her and the Sages, Will being among them near the back. She gulped, doing a headcount to herself. _"Inu, please hurry back, I don't know if Snarky and Panpour can beat all of them!" _The Plasma members each grabbed a Pokéball from the side of their uniforms, about to throw when footsteps clamored behind White, barking soon following. Looking back over at the door, her Herdier returned to her heels, tail wagging and tongue hanging out. Burgh, Cheren, Bianca, and the violet haired girl all flanked him, blocking the exit to the building.

"Team Plasma!" Burgh spat, his fists clenched. "I had a feeling that ship at port was yours!"

"Munna!" Bianca gasped, the purple haired girl still hanging onto her arm. Munna behind the troops cried out, struggling to get free from the strong grip. Will did not falter.

"Grunts, get rid of these meddlers." The navy dressed sage waved a hand, the troop members nodding and moved to release their Pokémon.

"Wait, Sage Bronius," the grunts all ceased their calls as Ghetsis interrupted the tall sage. He frowned, glowering at the youngest of the cloaked men as he grinned, waving a finger to Will.

"Release the Pokémon."

"What!" Numerous people in the room said at the same moment. Will's eyes only widened, looking at his commanding officers. Ghetsis continued to grin.

"It is of no use to us. That girl seems to miss it, she shall relish the time they have together for now. Return it." Will nodded, stepping around the guards as Bianca broke free of the young tan-skinned girl. Will removed the large pink Pokémon from his underarm, holding it properly out to Bianca. She took Munna from him, her fingers brushing over his hands gently as Munna floated into her arms, smiling contently.

"Thank you…" She whispered to him, the pale skin of the other turning darker as he backed into his position in formation.

"Yes, thank you. Now, you're all under arrest under ordinance of castelia city!" Burgh announced and the grunts all readied themselves. Ghetsis sighed, putting his hands up in a surrendering position.

"Yes, we are all disrupting the peace of your city…all for the better to restore peace to all of Unova!" A small purple orb fell from his hand, clattering to the floor with the sound of glass. The orb released a thick, grey fog that filled the room, mass shuffling being heard as White and the other trainers coughed, covering their eyes from the harsh dust. Waving the smog clear from her face, White sprung forward, looking through the dust in time to see a sick grin on the green-haired sage's face as elevator doors shut between them. The smoke cleared, the remains of the broken glass orb on the floor as the other members of the room looked around. Burgh brushed past White, looking at the elevator. He hit the control pad several times.

"They rewired it. Must've happened when we weren't watching."

"Can't we head them off on their floor?" The purple haired girl approached, looking over the buttons. Burgh shook his head.

"This building has 35 floors. Even if we checked them all they could easily use their Pokémon to fly or teleport away. We'll have to let them have that one today." Burgh continued to observe the controls as White swallowed the knot in her throat, still stuck in her position with the man's expression burned into her vision. A hand set itself gently on her shoulder, jolting her from the sight.

"You okay?" White's spectacled friend asked, taking one look at her and sensing something was amiss. She smiled, nodding.

"I'm fine. This has been a long day, after all."

"I believe it. Nice hair, who did it for you?" Cheren got a devilish grin as White's face turned completely red. She'd completely forgotten that she hadn't even cleaned up after that ordeal with Scraggy!

"Oh shut up, Cheren!"

* * *

Burgh and the violet haired girl waved, heading back towards Burgh's gym.

"You sure you don't want to battle, White?"

"I'll meet up with you soon, don't worry!" She smiled, Cheren and Bianca back at her sides. It was good to have the gang together, even for a short while. Burgh nodded, wishing her well and entering his gym, the girl following and talking all the way. She must not have been there to battle him. Bianca hugged her Munna, waving back to Cheren and White as she went to get her Pokémon treated at the center, worried sick about them.

"And then there were two." White shrugged, looking up at Cheren. The boy nodded, pushing his glasses up.

"Only one, sadly. I need to get on my way to Nimbasa city. Good luck to you." White gulped, now wary that her friend had caught up to her so quickly. Still, she smiled and nodded.

"Good luck!"

"And I expect a battle, soon. I know you want to get back to training so you can leave for Nimbasa first thing."

"Right, I'll camp outside tonight if I have to, but Burgh is going down!" White grinned, Inu barking from his seat on the ground and Snarky clapping his small paws in unison. Cheren laughed, patting Snivy on his head as he adjusted his shoulder strap, taking the road up towards the central park and to the desert route. White sighed, looking at the gym doors longingly. "You think we should try, just us three?" Snarky and Inu looked up at her, leaving the decision up to their trainer. She could see the uncertainty they held, but firm determination also lingering in their eyes. About to give a motivational pep talk, the trash in the alley next to them clattered to the pavement, making all three jump from their positions. Inu stared to bark, snarling at the loud thing in the alley and Snarky bristled, ready to leap into action as well. A yellow, wobbly figure soon emerged from the shadows, dizzy from his fall. Snarky and White both had wide eyes, smiling.

"Scraggy!" The desert Pokémon looked over at them, recognizing his pursuers he chattered, looking ready to run. White withdrew a Pokéball from her bag, this one empty and ready to catch the little lizard. "You're mine—ack!" She almost tripped as the Scraggy headbutted her again, Inu's barking mantra continuing fiercely. The Pokéball fell from her hands, landing on the sidewalk with a few clicks. The startled Scraggy jumped away from the yapping dog, picking up the red and white ball in front of him so he would not trip. Instead, his sticky fingers pressed the center button, a red light enveloping his short form and the Pokéball closed. It teetered on the cement, once, twice, and dinged successfully, silencing the Herdier from his barking.

White stared in shock, picking up the Pokéball and looking it over, and began a mad squealing spree along with Inu's parking and Snarky chittering on her shoulder. "Watch out Burgh! I'm going to get your gym badge! Right after I shower!" White held the Pokéball in her hand up to the sky, making a proclamation that anyone nearby heard and looked very confusedly at her. Realizing this, she dashed off to her room in the Pokémon center, getting all of her troupe members healed and herself refreshed.

* * *

The walk to the gym was silent, Snarky on White's shoulder and the newest member hobbling after her. He seemed bitter, but after hearing the plan, he was determined to prove himself to his girl he was stuck to. Scraggy was now known as Hoodie, named after the image of his evolved form White saw on a poster in the center only minutes before they departed. The three entered the gym, Burgh giving them free pass over his dripping honey on the walls as he saw White had taken special care in cleaning herself up just for this battle.

Leavanny was causing her difficulties, having overwhelmed Panpour easily and Herdier was wounded drastically. Hoodie entered the battle, Leavanny's ungraceful moves being lost on a clumsy and reckless Pokémon. He headbutted the bug to the wal, using his low kick to finally defeat the artistic bug Pokémon Burgh put all his faith to. Smiling, he awarded White the Insect badge, and a pat on the back to not let Cheren get away.

"You can make it past the desert tonight. Don't spend the night there, wait until the sand stops before calling it a night. The road to Nimbasa is too long to finish tonight."

"Why can't I sleep there? Sand sounds comfortable!"

"Regarding what happened to you and sand last time, I'd think you'd enjoy a nice grass field under the stars."

"Thank you, Burgh. For everything."

"Thank you, and don't worry, we'll catch those guys. As long as you catch up to Cheren!" Burgh pat her shoulder, Snarky squeaking at the new determination he had for the goal he proposed. White grinned and nodded, picking up Hoodie and nuzzling the cowlick on his head.

"I will!" She waved and ran out of the gym, stopping at the Pokémon center for a quick heal before dashing past all construction workers, getting an epic high five from a certain worker that saw her carrying a disgruntled Scraggy.

* * *

**A/N: AGH, I wrote like 3k words one day and the last 2 ½ right now! I'm tired lol, but I knew I owed this to you guys! **

**I went about writing this because I've basically lost hope in completing my 50k words for national novel writing month XD Bye November! Now to catch up on drawing…and of course taking care of you all!**

**Thanks for being patient and for all the watches! R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8: Nimbasa City Part 1

**A/N: **I wrote Bleach first because I erased this 5-page document to redo it. Apologies for the wait!

**ALL OF YOU: **If you haven't seen it, I've posted the first spin-off to this story. I actually wrote it in the middle of chapter 5, so pardon any un-edited things (though chapter 7 was unedited…hurp)

Chapter one is only 300 words, so it's not a complete thought as these are.

Parts of those will come slowly as this story progresses, meaning you may need to re-read parts of this story to remember what happens in the spinoff.

Chapter two will probably be implemented after this.

Onwards with the chapter of truth! A probably two-part adventure!

* * *

[CHAPTER EIGHT]

White's eyes slid open at the sound of cooing Pidove's outside the window of the Pokémon center. She sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes and pushing the sheets away from her. The clock on the modest side table read eight in the morning in red light, White stretching and flopping back onto the resident mattress. Snarky was curled up on the top bunk of the bunk beds. By the time White arrived to the Center this was the last room, but Joy was alright with her taking the two-person spread. She was so tired…the desert was horrible, especially when it started to get dark. She hadn't walked as fast as she hoped and had to take several breaks in kind construction worker's shacks. Not only was it late when she got into the luminous city, she went straight for a shower and went to sleep. She didn't get to see the city of lights in the night! Today was going to be miraculous.

When White was little she remembered her mother taking her to Nimbasa for her 6th birthday. She was literally ecstatic, wearing her Pikachu-themed overalls with brown curls in pigtails. The amusement park had recently opened; the bouncy castle and merry-go-round brought many laughs and good times. The best part of her memory was riding the Ferris wheel as the sun was going down, watching the city below light up spectacularly. Maybe the reason everything about this city screamed miraculous was the fact she was used to the small town community of Nuvema. Castelia was a huge culture shock for White, and after that she knew the only thing that could impress her was _this _city.

Snarky shrilled as he sat up from the top bunk bed, looking down at his trainer as she put her hair back into a ponytail. White smiled, looking up at him. "Morning, Snarky! Today's a big day." Snarky nodded, catching the excitement in her voice he groomed himself quickly with his nubby paws, hopping off the bunk bed onto the dresser. White picked him up, straightening the leafy designs of his tail as he squeaked from the tickles. "You're so cute, Snarky...I wonder what you'll be like when you evolve." Snarky looked up at her with big, guilty eyes, for some reason, cooing and nuzzling her shoulder. White raised an eyebrow but set him on said shoulder, patting his head before pulling her hat on.

She took a step out into the warm sunlight, her shoes clicking over the brick-like sidewalk bustling with teenagers and Pokémon. Most were laughing and talking about a musical performance, or a big Baseball game later that night.

"Hey, White!" White turned towards the entrance gate of Nimbasa as a dark haired, well-dressed male waved to her from the steps. She smiled and went over to him. Even if she had just seen Cheren a day ago, they never did have much time to talk.

"Hi! How'd I beat you here?"

"I got here yesterday; I've just been going back to the desert to train. You're looking better than I last saw you." He pushed his glasses up in an attempt to hide a smirk. White's cheeks turned livid, he'd never let her live down when they'd met in Castelia and she was filthy with muddy water.

"Shut up, Cheren."

"Fine. Say, would you like a battle?" He smiled again, craftily avoiding doing as she said. White's eyes lit up, she hadn't battled Cheren since…since they began their journey. How long ago was that? A week? So much had happened since then. Snarky sat up straight from White's shoulder, excited to see his friend that he must've made while in Professor Juniper's lab. White nodded excitedly, following Cheren to a boardwalk not far from the Pokémon center. It was a clear expanse of bricked pavement in decorative designs, and designated squares. This must be a recreational Pokémon battle arena.

"Ready?" White grinned, getting a Pokéball from her belt.

Cheren nodded, doing the same. "Go, Pidove!" He threw the Pokéball onto the arena, the glittering white shine disappearing and revealing the pigeon Pokémon. It stretched its wings, shaking off the sparks. Its wingspan seemed much longer than the average Pidove she'd seen circling in the mornings; it must be close to evolving.

"Go, Hoodie!" She threw her own Pokéball, her short shed-skin Pokémon tugging his pants up. He yawned, looking at the bird and up at White, who smiled. "Ready to go?" she was slightly dismayed when the Scraggy yawned, but based it on the fact he had won a gym battle last night. He nodded his bobby head soon though, just as Cheren waved a hand.

"Pidove, use air cutter!" White's focused drew back to the now-flying Pidove, flapping its enlarged wings to throw discs down at Scraggy.

"Hoodie, dodge quick!" She gulped, knowing that Scraggy was probably not the best type to use against a flying Pokémon. She'd just seen Pidove so frequently she thought it would be normal type as well. Hoodie hobbled backwards, the air cutter hitting right before his feet, the blast sending him back. Now thinking, Hoodie didn't even have a move that he could use against the bird if it was flying around! How stupid, she thought to herself, eyes darting from Hoodie to Pidove, then on Cheren. He was looking straight at her, and she hated that look he gave her—disapproval.

"…Hoodie, return," she withdrew her Pokéball again. The Scraggy whipped his head back at her, a frown covering his features. "Not this round, dear." The red light of the Pokéball enveloped him as he adjusted his pants again.

"At least you realized you can withdraw your Pokémon." She heard Cheren say across the field. Her eyes narrowed—wasn't Cheren supposed to be her friend? Now that they were rivals he couldn't help her anymore, especially not in a battle. That'd be the last time he warned her.

"Go, Panpour!" The monkey appeared, bouncing on his back paws. She was the only Pokémon she had that could use a special move other than Snarky, and flying was strong against grass as well. "Use water gun!" The little creature looked up at the Pidove, opening her mouth to attack after aiming on its position.

"Dodge and use quick attack!" Cheren called, the Pidove dropping his altitude as the water gun shot right over it at the last instant. Pidove dive-bombed again, appearing in front of Panpour in a blink, throwing the small simian back. White cursed, Panpour still rolling onto her feet quickly.

"Use fury swipes while it's still at the ground!" Panpour jumped into action, Pidove having landed after its attack was now under assault by the short claws of the ape. It cawed in pain, flapping its wings to throw Panpour away from it and get back into the air. "Use scald!" White told Panpour as she got steady again. Panpour had learned that move during the adventure in the desert the night before, and it worked well on the ground and fire type Pokémon. The boiling water left Panpour and flew into the air. Pidove ducked under it, but the stream of water made its way back down out of the air and onto Pidove's back.

It squawked as it burned over its feathers, falling back to the battle arena floor with a thud, dropping water onto the brick. Cheren retrieved his Pokéball and recalled the bird.

"You're getting quicker at least," he looked at White, who wasn't going to take his scorns any longer. "Go, Liepard!" A large, skinny feline appeared, flicking her tail that looked like a force to be reckoned with. It mewed, kneading the floor and eying Panpour.

"_Liepard is a dark type…that means Hoodie's fighting move will be super effective and Liepard's dark types won't be." _White thought, Panpour still ready for a fight. _"Then I can use Panpour against his Tepig!" _She couldn't withhold a grin, getting her Pokéball again. "Panpour, return!"

"Pursuit!" She heard Cheren call across the field. Panpour was enveloped in the red flash, and in the same instant Liepard was at her, raking its claws down Panpour's chest just before the light vanished. Panpour's cry echoed until the Pokéball clicked, successfully recalling her. Puzzlement must have replaced her grin, because Cheren adjusted his glasses once again. "Pursuit is able to attack a Pokémon that is retreating from a battle, good luck with your plan." White glared up at him, cursing under her breath. Cheren was always too smart for her liking sometimes. He was her friend, rival, but that didn't mean she wouldn't kick his ass in a Pokémon battle. She threw Hoodie's Pokéball again, the bobble headed lizard giving her a lazy glance as if to say, "Oh, coming crawling back to me, aren't you?"

"Hoodie, use Low kick!" Scraggy bounced to his feet and ran after the Liepard. The feline hopped, its long legs easily clearing the small creature and causing him to skid to a stop. He looked back at the cat, its scythe tail waving in his face and causing him to be entranced for a moment. Liepard attacked with a flurry of claws that White didn't even hear the attack's name, assuming Cheren had called Fury Swipes. Hoodie hobbled around, trying to dodge, but the cat was just playing with the small creature.

White swallowed, completely struck. The cat was so fast she couldn't think of counters in time, and a group of people had come to see the battle. Her Pokémon were still too low leveled…Cheren had been training…Where was Bianca, was she better than her too? Her thoughts were disrupted as Hoodie fell back, pinned by the larger cat as he stopped struggling, panting with stars in his eyes. Liepard got up off him after a few moments, practically prancing from her victory. Toys weren't any fun when they stopped moving.

"White?" Cheren broke her eyes from Scraggy, looking up at him as if she'd forgotten he was there. She swallowed leaving the squared off arena and picking Hoodie up, hearing a small cry from him. Liepard gave a meow before disappearing, Cheren stepping up next to White. He didn't say anything, looking at her. She brushed a few of her curls behind her ear, the brim of her hat covering her eyes. Cheren opened his mouth to say something when White looked back at Snarky.

"Thanks Cheren, I'm gonna get going now. Good luck with your gym battle." She gave a smile, turning away from him and ignoring whatever else he was about to say and walked back to the Pokémon center. She moved herself through the crowd that parted for her, passing several kids and their small partner Pokémon. She passed a large man with shocking hair. He simply said 'excuse me' in his gruff voice before going to the training arena. White didn't look back to see him approach Cheren.

* * *

"Thanks for visiting the Pokémon Center!" The Nimbasa Joy smiled, getting a false one in return.

"Thank you." White nodded to her, keeping her Pokéballs on her belt. Snarky hopped off the counter and onto her shoulder, clutching it tightly as White went back to the room she'd rented. He squeaked questioningly as she sat on the bed. Snarky prodded her, hanging off the neck of her vest before plopping into her lap. She was looking down, but with Snarky unable to see her under brunette hair he stepped directly under her face, looking up and feeling a wet droplet on his snout. He wiped it off before looking up again, White opening her eyes a little to meet his before giving him a hug.

"I'm sorry, Snarky…" her reply came as another squeak, and she loosened her grip. "I'm just not taking care of you guys well enough…" Snarky was giving her a puzzled look, and she continued, as did her tears. The grass snake shook his large head and hugged her back, his stubby paws barely getting a grasp at her waist anyways as he squeaked unknown encouragements to his trainer. White still pet him and smiled lightly. "Everyone else is getting so much stronger…and we train so hard…we train hard, don't we?" Snarky replied with a nod this time, appearing dismayed.

"…We should just start over or something…maybe we just got to Nimbasa too fast…we're flukes with the gym system." White let herself fall back onto the mattress, pulling Snarky and her hat off as she did. Snarky gave a short sigh and tapped the end of White's nose with his paw, curling up next to her like a cat. She shook her head a little, not wanting to sleep. She wanted to cry— a lot, make a river and be eaten by Basculin, or some other horrible monster. Pokémon training was her dream, and she couldn't even do that right. She didn't want to hurry down tar streets with a cell phone and briefcase, scattering away to work. Nimbasa was her city of dreams, if it wasn't for this city she wouldn't want to be a trainer, and she was blowing it within the first few hours.

* * *

The sun was falling fast, or it at least seemed like it as White watched the light slide across the studded plaster ceiling. The room soon started to darken, lifting her head slightly she could see the sun ready to slip past the horizon in an hour or two. She shook her head, retying the ponytail in her hair for the sixth time when Snarky shifted next to her, lifting his head and rubbing large eyes.

"Hi Snarky, sorry for waking you," White said, feeling it difficult to use her voice. He shook his head and rolled himself to small feet, bouncing on the bed a few times, making White sit up. "We're gonna go home, okay?" White's statement startled him and he looked up at her in bewilderment, shaking his head and squeaking more nonsense. "I don't want you guys to suffer at my expense…I'll just take some time off, maybe talk to Lenora or something," she licked her lips. "She was wrong, I don't know the basics yet. And I'm sick of getting you guys hurt."

She grabbed her tennis shoes and started to tie the laces while Snarky rattled on. Whether she could understand him or not, she didn't listen, pulling her hat back on. "…there's just one thing I wanna do before we go…we'll leave in the morning. It'll be a three day trip to Nuvema, two if we stay in Nacrene city." White surprised herself with how much she'd unknowingly prepared, putting her set of newly washed clothes into her satchel along with the rest of her things. Standing, she retrieved a billfold and Xtransceiver, putting them into her pockets. Afterwards she put her belt back on, her team's Pokéballs shimmering a little. "Are you coming, Snarky?" She looked back at the bed where the snake didn't seem pleased, but held his arms out to be carried regardless. She sighed but lifted him, giving him a reassuring squeeze before letting him rest on her shoulder.

The streets outside the Pokémon center were bustling more than before, parents getting home from work and teenagers off from sports practice. Some trainers were starting to seek shelter or merely going to heal their Pokémon for the nth time that day. She headed left, passing the expansive entrance to the city and its glittering sign, illustrating the amusement park attractions on its surface. Just as she became relaxed, she nearly was knocked to her feet by a pair of familiar idiots rushing past her and others, causing a ruckus.

"Who were they!"

"They were running like Woobats outta hell!"

White lifted her eyes, seeing white and grey uniforms disappearing into a cloud of dust. _Plasma! _She scowled, steadying herself as she heard Snarky start to growl in her ear. _Whenever you see them running, something must be wrong! _In such a large group of people, they easily could have stolen someone else's Pokémon. White took off after them, being more mindful of other civilians of course. Her disadvantage of being behind became evident with a few more turns, the trail gong cold at an intersection: across a bridge, through an archway, or into residential streets. Her azure eyes darted around the streets and over the heads of passersby, the sun lowering and further impeding her vision. Her breath started to even out again as she started losing hope in catching the crooks just like her dream, when a hand brushed her shoulder. The feeling of another person and not Snarky was enough to jolt her, spinning around to the side as she watched the figure saunter in front of her at the same instant.

"Why were you in such a rush, Miss White?" She bit her tongue as green hair was luminescent in an odd way in the complimentary lighting.

"…Team Plasma ran by, they might have been up to more trouble." She retorted with a turn of her chin. Snarky was already boiling, not pleased that the mysterious rival had gotten close to him especially.

"Really? How peculiar…well, I did happen to see some of those oddly dressed folk run into the fairway," The alphabetically-named youth suppressed a smile as White's eyes lit up. "Yes, I was after them as well. Come, before we lose them!" White gasped as N suddenly took her by the hand, pulling her under the archway in a swift but graceful run. White's eyes were now alight with more attractions than she remembered from her childhood. The stream running through the city was sparkling with electric reflections of light bulbs and neon, rippling from children's laughter. A bounce Pikachu to the left, a merry-go-round at the right, huge glimmering towers of thunderbolts with GYM carved into their surfaces with steel tracks protruding from the building…the ferris wheel at the edge of the forest.

N gradually slowed his pace as they came to the fenced-off dead end, not even seeming out of breath. White panted a few times before straightening herself, watching N look around—even on the ground—for signs of a disturbance in the fairgrounds. After a couple moments of silence between them, White heard him sigh.

"Dead end."

"Yeah," White raised an eyebrow, wondering how it took him that long to notice that.

"Appears that they've eluded us now…I apologize." He nodded to White at his side. She nodded back, caught in strange lime colored eyes before realizing she was still by the shifty young man. She pulled her hand out of his grasp, though it wasn't tricky. His palms weren't _sweaty, _that would have been awkward, more so moist from the warmth of their skin from the run. Not only that, but his grip was loose anyways, allowing her to retreat.

"Not your fault, or mine. It's not even our problem." White resisted biting her lower lip at the sourness she caught in her own tone. Maybe a nap would have done her mood some good. N's eye brows seemed to lift a little in surprise themselves.

"Strange to hear you say that, after you were so eager to jump into pits in the forest." White's mood turned on him then, giving a sharp glare at him before forcing itself to soften.

"Yeah, that was then," she looked back at the sunset, giving a sigh and turning her back to him. "I should get going before it's too late…"

"Oh…I understand. But, perhaps if it would help, we could try to find those villains from the Ferris wheel. If you're interested in that sort of thing, that is." White raised an eyebrow and glanced back at him. That was the reason she'd even ventured outside; she'd certainly feel foolish for walking outside to chase some crooks and then go back indoors.

"…Yeah, I like Ferris wheels." She turned back towards him and the line of couples at the ride only yards away from them. N's face seemed to light up with his smile.

"Oh, good! I love Ferris wheels…haven't been on one in…..years. But they remind me of some complex algorithms, like—nevermind." He seemed to (or she at least hoped that he) caught on to White's uncaring attitude about math. White stepped around him and into line, retrieving a Pokecoin from her billfold.

"I haven't been here in at least ten years." She said after another awkward moment of silence in line. She much rather preferred N at her side where she could keep an eye on him, not looming behind her— Christ, did he seem tall with his shadow casting in front of her. Snarky seemed to be keeping his narrowed eyes on him as well, riding White's shoulder up to the till.

"I'm sorry ma'am, we can't allow Pokémon on the ride." The young man in his decorative outfit said with some remorse. White frowned, the last thing her mood needed was to deny Snarky the chance at seeing the sunset.

"He's small, and well-behaved. I'll pay for a ticket for him, I don't care." The bitterness was leaking from her lips again. The young man sighed, looking over some sort of notepad with regulations of the ride on it.

"T-the rules say that a Pokémon over 10 pounds isn't allowed on."

"Ten pounds? So if I was fatter it'd be alright?" White growled, the young man shaking his head.

"M-ma'am…"

"I'm not a ma'am!"

White's eyes widened as she heard the sound of her Pokéball recalling, glancing over she was N pressing the button of Snarky's Pokéball. She glared at him and he only smiled.

"A ride for two, please." He said, giving White a slanted look that could only read some impatience. They were after Team Plasma! White frowned, centering her belt buckle a little awkwardly at watching coins change hands, forgetting about the few in her palm. N walked up the ramp and opened the carrier door, waving White inside. She hardly paid mind to the gentlemanly action and took her seat, N sitting across from her after shutting the door. The ride lifted them upwards a few times, getting the rest of the passengers on before nightfall. White kept her eyes downwards out the window, absently looking for a mess that may have formed in the streets. Hearing a creak or two she looked up and hit the back of her head against the rounded window.

"N!"

"Yes?" He smiled, no longer sitting across from her. He gently retrieved the Pokéball from her waist, barely ghosting past her side and releasing Snarky in the seat across from them. He shook his little fist, squeaking at N crossly. He chuckled. "I truly haven't heard a Pokémon say such things…"

"…you planned that didn't you?" White raised her eyebrow, getting another grin in turn.

"Some rules are meant to be bent, after all. It's been a long time since I've talked to this little one, too." He propped his elbow up on his knee, leaning forward with his chin on his palm. "So, Snarky, tell me what's troubling the pair of you at this time of day." Snarky squeaked, looking at him and then his equally-flabbergast trainer.

"What're you talking about?"

"Something is bothering you, and I know that directly asking you will be thwarted by your stubbornness." Oh, how gentlemanly! White crossed her arms, looking back out the window as the cart lifted another's distance.

"You two catch up, I'll look for those Plasma grunts." She lied, her eyes wafting away from the floor of the city in favor of seeing the sun setting, street lights starting to turn on at alternative times. Flashbacks came to her like the streetlamps being lit, like times with her mom and dad, riding a lovely Masterball designed carrier upwards and around over the treetops of the city. She'd sit in dad's lap, pointing out all the fun places they'd visited in the sunlight as the windows darkened, the signs lighting up, and the feel of the city changing. A few squeaks passed her ears before drawing her attention back to Snarky, now sitting on his half of the cart. He looked up at White when she looked over, before back to N. Maybe she was paranoid, but she thought he'd approached another inch.

"You're going home?" White jumped, taking her head out of her hand she hadn't even realized she'd done at the window.

"How did you know…" she looked at Snarky, getting a shrug. Maybe he wasn't completely insane about talking to Pokémon. White sighed, looking back out the window. N didn't say anything, but she could tell he was staring and that made her even more uncomfortable than when he spoke. "…tomorrow."

"Why? Is there a family problem?"

"Yeah, me."

"I don't understand." White glared over at N, but sighed when she saw the clear confusion on his soft features.

"…I just need to go home, no more travelling and losing battles."

"Aren't you taking those ridiculous gym badge challenges?"

"Yes, I have three."

"Then how are you losing?"

"I don't earn them!" She glared back over at him, Snarky's tail twitching at her volume. "Lenora gave me the badge without a fight, I nearly lost the third one, and now I'm here and lost against Cheren and can't even stop that stupid Team Plasma." She clenched her fists, turning away to look back out the window as mention of the pests alerted her that she was meant to be checking the city from the sky. It also reminded her she couldn't care less anymore, they were long gone.

"So you care about winning…" N said a little breathily, glancing out towards the opposite window.

"No, well, I love winning. I don't want to be a stupid trainer standing on corners for a battle I want to be a trainer from nowhere making a difference. But when I'm losing so much I'm failing Snarky and the team…they're getting hurt because I'm…not ready, or something." Silence filled the cart, after you forget about a few creaking gears as the Ferris wheel made its second cycle around.

"Then…you want to win, while taking care of your Pokémon…sounds impossible. They will always be hurt when being used as tools for sport."

"You really aren't helping if that was your intention." White spat, keeping her eyes at the city. The Ferris wheel went around at least twice more, in silence. White's shoulders relaxed, childhood memories replacing the near future thoughts, clouding the sourness she'd been displaying all day. The cogs creaked as they twirled in the air within their carrier, a few clicks, and the sound of a Pokéball's flash. White looked back over, Snarky disappearing into the Pokéball at her side with a click. She raised an eyebrow before looking up to question N for pressing the center button before flinching. Her nose nearly brushed his, only slightly missing because of his height advantage and the brims of their hats bumping into each other.

"Wha—" White didn't finish, N interrupted her.

"I don't think you should go home."

"What are you talking about?" She slid back in her seat, pressing closer to the armrest and window. N was still within inches of her.

"Stubbornness is sometimes good. You care about your Pokémon, and you don't want to achieve great things by terrible means. You're…different than other trainers I've seen. As for Team Plasma, I do recall you successfully putting Ghetsis and three sages on the run." White swallowed hard, her mouth dry. The first sage in the forest, Ghetsis and two others in Castelia city, how many more were there out there, directing more thieves into their bidding?

Wait.

"…How do you know about that…" N blinked a couple times, but remained the same. "…you were in the forest; you didn't follow me to that battle. I never saw you in Castelia city. It was Cheren, Bianca and I with Burgh and Iris in that building with the smoke bomb and elevator."

"I must have been in Castelia to be here, you see."

"You're following me." White glared, her voice clipped.

"No, not really."

"Liar! How else would you know all these things, or did Snarky tell you about them too?" White licked her lips, the cart getting stuffy and her skin was hot in anger, or confusion. With the length of what she "heard" of that "conversation" she highly doubted Snarky said that much or even why he would rattle on about their adventures; he obviously wasn't fond of N. The green haired young man sighed and shook his head.

"Girls talk a lot…" White heard him say under his breath, rolling her eyes. The Ferris wheel headed around once more, starting to go slower as it must have been near to the last spin. She looked back outside, their cart approaching the peak of the wheel's height, stopping two cars short as the attendant below let the first car off. The pair was quiet, but White heard N shift again, her eyes glancing back up at him.

"Please don't give up."

The car lurched upwards one more car, the teenager's swinging. White swallowed again, noticing she was backed up into the seat's corner with N blocking any further movement. She didn't say anything.

"I've decided I want you to be the one."

"One?" White asked her voice mousey in volume now as opposed to her earlier outburst.

"I suppose that wouldn't make sense to you now…maybe I'm being rash…but you're in a race, Miss White. If you truly want to make a difference, you must be swift."

"What are you talking about, you're talking too fast."

"Defeat the eight gyms; face the elite four, and the champion, before me and your competition."

"Why?"

"You want to win, don't you? Defeat Team Plasma, keep Pokémon at people's sides?"

"Yes, but what's this have to do with a race, and you're trying to become the champion?"

"For many different reasons, but that doesn't make sense to you now either. You'll see. I swear your eyes will be opened to everything I plan to put in place. I want you to see the most. I want Pokémon and people apart, certainly, but not from you; people like you." The Ferris wheel started to move again, lifting them to the peak.

"You want to—" White was cut off by N again, this time with his lips over hers, stealing the breath from her. Her eyes must have bulged comically as he was gentle, her hat sliding up her forehead as he had to adjust properly in the cramped space. Within a few seconds he gave space back between them, his eyes looking over White's surely blushed face. Still within inches of each other, he took a breath, and uttered in a whisper:

"I'm the leader of Team Plasma."

The Ferris wheel started its descent.

* * *

**A/N: **oAo was that an okay cliffy? I apologize for the wait and lots of talking at the end, but I need to mix together a lot of what N says in the game at this one moment for fluidity reasons.

Please R&R to keep me going, I really am sorry for the wait…as said before I'll start Black's adventures Chapter 2 soon.


	9. Chapter 9: Nimbasa Part 2: Showdown!

A/N: Sorry for the wait!

Bottom line, I had to sort things with my life out. It does kill me to take a 3 month break like that, but as much as I want to keep this going for you guys, I'd kind of like to keep my real-world problems in order. Not that I don't love you, you just weren't as pressing a matter.

So let's go let's go! This is the chapter of truth! Or ideals! (badumtish)

* * *

[CHAPTER 8 –PART TWO]

Her heart was thudding, thudding hard. Her mouth felt dry, even though the car wasn't as hot as she made it out to be when angry. On top of that, her head was spinning.

_I'm the leader of Team Plasma._

Where the hell did that come from? Even after he gave her personal space back, she couldn't say anything. She wasn't even sure if he'd said anything after that. A serious case of butterflies plagued her insides while the Ferris wheel lurched closer to the ground. White wasn't even sure if she knew what was causing it: the horrible realization that N was her enemy, or that she just kissed him willingly.

"_Thank you for riding Nimbasa Heights Ferris Wheel! Please remain seated in the car while it comes to a complete stop, and have a wonderful day!" _The automated female voice chimed in their car as it slowed down, snapping White from her inner troubling. N had slid back to the other side of the small car, pulling his hat back over his forehead correctly. White tried to hide her blush as she fixed hers as well. The two had gotten pushed up from their closeness, after all. The car stopped with a quiet shriek, the attendant approaching and opening the car door. N stood up first, ducking as to not hit his head on the top of the Pokéball carrier and sauntered out. White followed him afterwards, returning to the grassy spot next to the forest. N was waiting for her, but not turning to face her as she exited the attraction. The two shared a silence for some time until N began to turn and face White, a peculiar look on his face. She looked equally ridiculous when a pair of knights burst through the hedges.

"Master N! We've been looking around for you diligently! The sages request your presence." Felix gave a salute, Wyatt begrudgingly copying him. N's face returned to its casual and at-ease look.

"Well, I have been here."

"We see that sir—You!" Wyatt's pitch lowered as he aimed a finger at White. She jumped, looking between the three men that all had their eyes on her in some predatory manner.

"Hi clowns, have fun in the bounce Pikachu?" She gave a smile, swallowed the nervousness she was still experiencing.

"Why you…! Sir, Felix and I will handle this while you make your exit." Wyatt retrieved the Pokéball at his hip. N lowered the visor of his hat, fingers playing over the chain holding his glittering cube to his side.

"No need, I had actually just planned on doing that myself." His hand slipped lower and expanded a Pokéball on his belt. "Tell Ghetsis that I will arrive soon enough." His eyes were shadowed by the bill of his hat and gave his eyes that glow-in-the-dark look about them that made White's butterflies start freaking out once more. White noted the slight shift to the two cronies and back to her, an indication. To make them leave. White realized she'd been challenged not a second too soon and retrieved her own Pokéball. "Go, Snarky!" Her partner made his appearance outside of the Ferris wheel, a confused look on his face. Felix and Wyatt recognized their orders as N released his Pokémon delicately, signifying the battle. The two red-headed Plasma members scurried down the brick sidewalks in a hurry to inform their other leader. A Sandile appeared at N's feet, its scaly tail swishing through the trimmed blades of grass in anticipation.

"I'm afraid that I will need to finish this battle and make my leave, Miss White." N gave a smile. "but I do swear that the truth will make itself known in due time. Sandile, use scratch!" White didn't even have time to respond to the green-haired Plasma king, instead instructing Snarky to dodge the repeated swipes from the low-level crocodile.

"Snarky, Vine whip!" White's heart thudded more and more, fearful. _He's Team Plasma's leader. He's not an idiot. Cheren beat me, I couldn't stand it if he beat me too! _She solidified her resolve with that one thought. _There's no way I'm going home a loser. _

Snarky must have caught on to the determination practically rolling off his trainer, dashing through the field like a short-limbed ballerina. Sandile was fast, but not fast enough. Vine Whip snapped down on its muzzle once, twice, until the small gator threw a sand-attack into the air. The trainer's commands were heard by the Pokémon and the intensity covered them up right after they were uttered. The trainers were staring right into each other's eyes, calculating their next moves without even watching the Pokémon. It was so reckless it was harmonious.

"Your Snivy is very advanced, you know." N said, the fight at their feet still ensuing. "He told me he doesn't wish to evolve if it means keeping you happy. And he realizes you won't be happy if defeat is meeting you around every corner." White's throat felt heavy as she glanced back into the arena. Snarky was too busy dodging razor sharp teeth and claws, while his eyes burned from dust. "So I realized you don't seek power…nor do you seek inadequacy." He looked back to the field and continued to orchestrate the battle that was wearing on both of the small Pokémon. White and N said nothing, and the Pokémon stopped, catching their breath.

"…I will not lose. I'm not about to give up and let Team Plasma's plans go into effect." White retorted, harsh determination still dripping off her tongue. N gave a smile again.

"You haven't a clue how far along we've progressed, and how much you've assisted already. Sandile, bite!"

"Snarky, dodge!" White licked her dry lips, her fists nearly shaking she had clenched them so tightly. Snarky jumped up over the muzzle of Sandile, flicking his tail wildly in a loop as leaves swarmed around it and Sandile. The croc cried out, falling back into the grass in a pile of leaves, knocked out. Snarky landed again, flicking his tail in dismissal of another opponent. White's eyes flicked between both Pokémon before giving a squeal. "Good job Snarky! I didn't know you learned Leaf Storm!"

Snarky cooed, putting his tiny hands on his hips in victory as Sandile disappeared into his Pokéball. The red flash of the Pokéball matched the white light that suddenly encased Snarky and grew taller. White watched, bedazzled, before running over to her Pokémon's side. "Snarky, it's okay, if you evolve we can travel farther and be better friends!" She knelt down, Snarky's expression pained as e attempted to stay small. He squeaked, leaning up and patting White's shoulder, face saddened further. White gave a reassuring smile.

"If you wanna ride my shoulder, I'll still carry you, even if you're big. I promise."

The white flash pulsated, Snarky going unseen within it for several moments before glittering starts shot out into the field.

[ CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR Snarky HAS EVOLVED INTO SERVINE! ]

White threw her arms around the tall, thin serpent. Snarky's long tail returned the hug before White pulled back, giggling and prodding his chest. "Your arms got so little!" Snarky gave a twirling shrill sound, his snout turning into the familiar pouting guise. She laughed, her throat still tight and her face feeling warm. She stood up to her feet, still smiling as Snarky now was tall enough to meet her hip. She looked back over, remembering her rival was still present in the field. N gave another smile, as he seemed to be doing that often White thought, and approached them. He handed her a sparkling clean Pokéball.

"Here, Sandile will help in your silly gym battle. But perhaps this will remind you of this night." He leaned over and wiped the tiniest tear out from her eye. Her face heated more in a blush, not even realizing she'd been that excited about Snarky's evolution.

"I won't forget tonight." White took satisfaction in causing N's eyes to widen in the slightest, before he looked back down the boardwalk.

"This shall not be the last time we meet, surely. Though I do warn you to watch your back. The time is nigh." He walked away from them down the brick, taking a right once underneath the decorative archway of the amusement park, and was soon gone from sight. White swallowed, ooking down at the Pokéball that belonged to Sandile.

"…He fought me with a Pokémon that didn't have a type advantage." She looked at her new Servine, that gave an awkward shrug from his small shoulders. "Something tells me he prepared for this. But I gotta thank him for it…we're together, and we're going to get our fourth badge and stop Team Plasma!" She smiled at Servine, the hint of a smirk on her lips. He smiled too, beginning a mantra of coos and cries as he more-than-likely complained about his treatment in the Pokéball shaped Ferris wheel cart, and N telling his secret. White hurriedly led them back to the Pokémon center to heal their new party member and get well-needed sleep.

* * *

White stretched, fully dressed after a warm and relaxing morning shower. Panpour, Snarky, Inu-chan, Hoodie, and Sandile were all comfortable in her Pokémon center room munching on food, though Panpour made it a game to pull the bowl out of Snarky's shortened reach. She tied her hair back into a pony, watching them with an amused smile and pulled her visor on. "Okay guys, finish eating, then, Nimbasa gym!" All heads turned to look at her, and Pokémon food was in all mouths in moments (as wel as some escaping down Hoodie's pants). White looked through her Pokédex, checking all their attacks.

"Panpour, I can't use you in this fight. Elesa is the gym leader and she's an electric-type specialist." The seamonkey nodded, her mouth full, but having a mutual understanding of not wanting to be electrocuted. Sandile snapped his jaws on his food and wagged his tail, "Sandile-ile!"

"Right, Sandile is immune to the attacks. N was right when you'd be helpful. Hoodie and Snarky will be able to put up with them too." Both party members had contented but equally big-headed looks on their faces. Inu barked, then went back into the bowl to finish off the rest of the food. The other Pokémon got to their feet and did little workout moves, much to White's amusement.

"Hm, you know, I didn't give you a nickname Sandile, and I never thought of yours, Panpour. I suck at this." She rubbed the back of her neck, Snarky whacking her hand with his tail and scolding her for the thought. She snickered and puled him into a big hug. "Right, well, I still need to keep up with the trend. How about…" she looked at Panpour. "…you're a Seamonkey, right? I can call you Sea for short, that's cute." Panpour nodded, ooking and eeking in agreement. White smiled and nodded, looking back at Sandile, his dark eyes looking back up at her in an adorable manner. "Sandile…hm…" she browsed her Pokédex for more information, an idea, anything.

Sandile watched her, his tail swishing back and forth, eagerly wanting to hear what his new master thought up. White looked back at him, rubbing her chin. "You're from the desert…sand…um…How about Dezzi, like the desert?" He watched her, his tail ceasing it's movement, contemplating. He slowly opened his trap, and his eyes it up. "San, Sandile!" his mouth formed a strange smile that was slighting scary, but cute.

"Alright, it's decided. Welcome to the team, Dezzi!"

* * *

Soon enough White neared the entrance to the glittering, lightning-bolt adorned gym. Twisted metal was veering out of walls and sneaking back inside. She swallowed hard, keeping her five Pokéballs on her belt and in an order she could easily retrieve. They had strategized all night, and spent some time training with Dezzi on the way to the gym. Even Hoodie seemed to want to teach him the art of battling, though he did it a bit more lackadaisical, or what White called Swag. She sucked in a last breath of clean, sunny air before pushing the doors open. The inside of the gym was enormous, screams of people and metal alike heard around the tracks of the Super Coaster with colors of neon everywhere. White swallowed, taking the scenery in as an employee approached her.

"Hey, champion-in-the-making, here to challenge the beauty Elesa?" He was tall with dark glasses and a fanciful suit. He looked pretty professional, and from what Hawes had mentioned to White a while ago, most employees of Pokémon Gyms come straight from the Elite four. White nodded, still amazed by the different colored tracks weaving around the room. He gave a hearty chuckle. "Don't get too distracted! Elesa and her Pokémon are extra quick and tricky! You know your type advantages?" White nodded again, smiling.

"I've been strategizing."

"Good! But the coasters aren't just for show, you need to press several switches to operate them properly and reach the leader herself." White nodded, hiding a grimace. Of course it couldn't be that easy. At least she could ride some adult rides on her return visit to Nimbasa.

"Gotcha, thank you." She gave her thanks again as the man handed her a bottle of water, making her fingers tingle from how cold it really was. She put it on a side pocket of her bag for later. It was for her Pokémon, no matter how thirsty she'd surely get. Something about battles just gave her an intense feeling that left her fatigued in no time. She had to stay calm this time if Elesa's Pokémon were as fast as the doorman said.

She took steps up to the side of the track, slipping into a fluorescent purple car and pulled the secure bar over her lap. _I'd love to have them ride with me, but that doesn't sound very safe. _She thought as the car lurched forwards and weaved her through a set of track. The gym was alight with battles and even fashion shows with paparazzi. The cart slithered to a stop at another platform above the show, gorgeous models strutting across the runway in the newest styles soon to be broadcasted through Castelia city and sold in all trendy stores. A rich boy tapped White on the shoulder, a Pokéball in his hand and a grin on his face.

White began the practice for Elesa.

Her Pokémon still in near-perfect shape and her head clear, White slid into the last electric-yellow coaster car. She gripped the safety bar tightly, eying the loop in the track directly over the runway decorated with the same shade of yellow. White hadn't been on a roller coaster that flipped before, and it wasn't really helping her nerves. The car slid out of the station, the boy she'd battled there wishing her luck as an Elite four attendant healed his Pokémon. White had had serious trouble battling the few Emolgas Elesa's trainers had, since they flew around Dezzi and out of his reach. She'd managed, and was sure that Elesa would have a similar strategy. The car weaved through the entire expanse of the gym, doing a few inclines and dives, before going down a slope around the runway where White's eyes met a slender blond woman's, before White zipped back up the hill. The woman smiled and removed her hat while still in White's line of sight, going up a set of lit white stairs to a battle arena. The final one. The cameras were flashing the whole time she made her way up, eager to cover everything about the Beauty Elesa.

White's stomach lurched as the track threw her car up into the finale of the coaster, the upside-down loop. She held her breath, her hair whipping back at the speed and change in gravity. She heard a click, a whir, and finally, a snap. The car lurched down, and White looked "up" in time to see the pretty runway coming up to meet her.

The coaster had broken.

Panic hit her in a millisecond and her hand was instantly to her belt, struggling to retrieve a Pokéball from under the safety bar.

"SNARKY! Use yer vines!" She threw the Pokéball fast to the runway, where enough news media and watchers were shrieking. Snarky appeared, the vines grabbing the coaster and tried to suspend them. The green vines bent, keeping the coaster up for a moment before the weight settled. The vines gave way and dropped the car the extra ten feet to the ground.

"Gurdurr!" White could barely hear the call over the sound of her own blood pumping and prayers, until the cart was stopped firmly. Her eyes shut tight, she feared the worse. _I'm dead, dead dead, on live TV. Totally should've gone home. _When the stage lit up her eyes opened and she was face to upside-down chest with a Gurdurr. It grunted in effort, holding the car up on shaky muscles. The Pokémon threw the cart up, righting its position, and letting it drop roughly to the stage, but safely. White yelped, immediately releasing the safety bar and climbing out of the metal deathtrap. Snarky leapt into her arms, but she was still stuck in shock-mode.

"Are you alright?"

"Holy shit, people, give her some room!"

"I'll call the hospital! They can like, make it in 10 minutes!"

"I'm okay," White must've said it loud enough, but with the blood rumbling as it left her face it sounded like a whisper to herself. "Okay, I'm fine…"

"Jesus Christ, White, I'm so sorry, that…I mean…thank God Gurdurr caught you." White whipped around where she was pulled into a tight hug. The scent of denim flooded her senses and straightened her head. When she was released she smiled at seeing Black, though he looked as though he'd been the one about to fall to his demise on live TV.

"Thank God you caught a Gurdurr." She didn't even look to see if Black smiled before she was blinded by white lights as bright as Snarky's evolution, cameras trained on her like turrets.

"You saw it here first, Unova! A terrifying fall ends with the lovely couple reunited with an amazing catch by Gurdurr!" Emerale, the PokeNEWs anchor said from White's other side, her bright green hair bouncing against her cheeks. "Let's all give Servine and Gurdurr a big round of applause!" the room filled with it, White realizing how packed the show had been.

"Couple?" She blinked, watching Emerale give her feedback of the night's events, ignoring the incident once more. Black took a few steps away from his near-copy.

"Are you sure you're alright? I swear my crew had Okayed today's mechanics." White turned, now seeing the blonde gym leader that had before given her the fiery look of a challenge. The look was replaced with compassion, reminding her of her mother, who more-than-likely just saw the television and would be calling any minute.

"I'm alright, just…dizzy. Nothing major."

"I bet you're dizzy, that was a few too many loops." Elesa placed the back of her doll-like porcelain hand to White's forehead, before straightening some strands of her hair. "I will make this up to you, I swear. Oh, of course, you are a challenger; perhaps...could I give you this badge, and tickets to the next show? I hope that doesn't sound too bribe-like." White smiled, thinking about taking her mom to the next season's fashion show. It'd be spring designs, as this one must have been winter themed, because Elesa was wearing furry white muffs and a yellow short coat.

"You can make it up to me by giving me a heck of a gym battle." White smiled, Snarky's tail jittering. Elesa blinked, getting the fiery look back on her face from the moment before the coaster disaster.

"I like you, White. Come on upstairs to the Pokémon arena."

"You heard it here, folks! Even after a fatal disaster, Thrill-seeker White still challenges masterful, beautiful, wonderful Electric-beauty Elesa! And we're gonna show you every second of the battle, after the break!" Emerale squealed in joy behind White, trying to keep the cameraman focused on her.

"Wait…you're going to…broadcast this?"

"No pressure," Elesa pulled her from the camera crews that were flocking the staircase. The Electric gym leader took her to an elevator instead to avoid the traffic, the doors shutting behind them and taking them back up. "This elevator is fully operational, I do know that."

"I don't think I can handle any more falls today."

"I wish you luck in this battle, but since you want a challenge I won't be going easy on you." Elesa smiled, looking back over at White. She really was beautiful, and stripped herself of the winter outfit quickly to avoid overheating up at the top of the stadium. Her classic yellow and black form-fitting uniform had been underneath her runway clothes. "All I tell you to do is ignore Emerale and the cameras. If you get distracted I will take the opportunity to strike." White swallowed, knowing that Elesa was compassionate from all her television appearances, but the last footnote added to her mischievous methods.

"You won't get the chance," White nodded to her and faced forwards again as the elevator doors opened onto the biggest stage she'd ever seen, with even more film crew and onlookers. She was disappointed not seeing a brunette in the masses, but rounded the edge in the opposite manner of her opponent. Both of them seemed like poised lionesses, stalking their prey and preparing the attack.

White licked her lips, wishing she'd gotten a bottle of water for herself. Snarky was badly hurt in the field, Emolgas using Aerial Ace and crippling him, then using Volt Switch and switching out for another fully-healed Emolga. Snarky had managed to take down one with Leaf Storm and his speed. White didn't even know how many of the flying squirrels were left; the switches had been happening so fast and the differences between them so minor.

"Emolga, Volt Switch!" Elesa called, Emerale's commentating already going on in the back of White's mind.

"Snarky, dodge!" White called, her partner leaping to the side as fast as he could in his state. Emolga flipped around in the air gracefully, finally finding an opening and striking Snarky in the side. He fell back to the field, the fan on his tail twitching a little. "Snarky!" White swallowed as Emolga returned to Elesa's Pokéball, and she retrieved the next.

"Go, Zebstrika!" White felt her heart sink a little as the fully-healed star Pokémon of Elesa's team appeared, kicking up its hooves.

"Snarky, are you alright?" White called to her partner. Though he looked badly injured, he hopped back up to his feet, still determined that he'd last another electric attack. "Alright, one more push. Use Leaf Storm!" Snarky leapt up into the air, his tail spinning like a propeller and flung leaves at the exotic horse below. Zebstrika was hit by the first wave of leaves, but charged out of its path without a horrible amount of damage done to itself. White swallowed once more, realizing that this foe was indeed high level. She felt a bead of sweat under her visor as Elesa got a mischievous grin.

"Zebstrika, use Flame Charge!"

"_What?" _White froze up. Zebstrika charged at lightning speed, coated in flames. Snarky stiffened and shuffled to the side, but the zebra was much quicker and head butted the short snake, leaving burns and flames around him. Snarky yowled at the pain, being thrown backwards across the long arena towards White. He twitched a few more times before he got the dazed look in his eyes.

"Woooooow! Beauty Elesa's gorgeous Zebstrika took out the challenger's partner Servine with a dazzling Flame Charge!" Emerale cheered, getting within the camera's view again.

"_Don't…don't freeze like that again, White! Do __**not**__ freeze like that!" _She repeated to herself and recalled Snarky. "You did amazing, thank you." She said to the Pokéball, at least wishing that Snarky could hear her. Emerale's overly-chipper voice was beating in the back of her head as she didn't hide the excitement is being able to announce which Pokémon she'd use next. She wished she knew. _"Dezzi won't be affected by the electricity, and fire won't do much damage, but Zebstrika is so fast…we'll have to try." _"Go, Dezzi!" She threw the Pokéball from her belt, the short gator appearing. Emerale was already yammering to the camera.

"Dezzi, use Mud Slap!" White called just as quickly, ignoring the press. Dezzi locked eyes with the zebra and waddled forwards, throwing up mud from under his feet. White had no idea how it had gotten there. It hit Zebstrika on the snout, the horse shaking its head in anger. Its hooves lit up and it charged at Dezzi, but ended up zooming right past the short beast. The crowd shrieked as the horse came in their direction, but it stopped in time, trying to shake the mud away from its eyes. _"Mud Slap lowered its accuracy…alright!" _

"Good work, now use Sand Tomb!" Dezzi hopped around so he was facing the zebra Pokémon, twirling his short tail. Sand swirled up around him and then around Zebstrika. The horse howled as the attack did double-damage on it, but it was able to shake it off.

"Zebstrika, Flame charge!" The horse glistened in flames and dashed at Dezzi. He waddled to the side in an attempt to dodge, but Zebstrika caught the motion and redirected the attack. He squealed and was thrown back, but was resistant.

The two women battled in this style for the upwards of 10 minutes. Zebstrika would sometimes land hits, sometimes miss, and the same would be said for Dezzi. Both were very injured, and Dezzi had been burned by a Flame Charge. The crowd was growing restless.

"This battle is coming to an end soon! But both battlers still have one Pokémon remaining! Challenger White is definitely giving our gym leader a battle!" Emerale didn't lose her spark for a moment, energetic as when the battle began. Zebstrika shook its head, trying to rid its vision of the mud that had been caked on by repeated attacks.

"Zebstrika, return!" White jolted from her thought process as the large horse assimilated into red. Elesa put the Pokéball at her side and retrieved another. "Emolga, you're up!"

"_Crap, now Zebstrika will recover its accuracy, and Dezzi can't use Mud Slap and Sand tomb!" _She wet her lips, thinking over their training. She waited. Elesa eyed her but smiled, knowing that Dezzi stood no chance reaching Emolga with any attack. The squirrel glided above them.

"Emolga, Quick attack!" Emolga did a loop and dashed to the ground. White waited only a second, Dezzi readying himself.

"Now Dezzi, Assurance!" The small crocodile hopped up but an inch and whipped his tail out, striking Emolga across the cheek with a wicked smack. The dual-type Pokémon ricocheted off of the scaly tail and was flung straight into the gym floor at top speed. The squirrel tried to push itself up on tiny paws, but failed to get its footing. Swirls adorned its eyes as Elesa recalled it. White grinned—two down, one to go. "Great job Dezzi!"

"Wooo—oww! Challenger White has defeated both of Leader Elesa's Emolga, but her number one Pokémon Zebstrika is still kicking and ready for a fight!" Emerale's voice was background. White focused on the battle and thought of it as her own internal thoughts. Zebstrika wouldn't be fighting much longer with Dezzi and Hoodie still on her side. Her eyes glistened as Zebstrika reappeared, neighing in frustration at spotting Dezzi still on the field. White swore she saw some steam come from its nostrils; that looked ominous. The mud had be cleared from its muzzle and he was indeed, kicking.

"Zebstrika, quick attack!" The horse was even faster than Emolga, practically appearing in front of the Sandile.

"Mud slap!" White's heart thudded in her chest, panic rising. _Push it down, push it down._ Dezzi kicked up some mud into the face of the offending enemy, but the attack was not halted. Zebstrika used its hooves to punt Sandile backwards, the small gator doing flip before landing on his back.

"Dezzi, are you okay?" White almost heard her voice crack. Dezzi gave a reply, assumedly still alright though the burn on his side seared. He wobbled, and wobbled, and squealed in dismay at being unable to get to his feet. White sucked in her teeth.

"Zebstrika, help the dear up, Flame charge!" Elesa shifted her weight onto another leg, confidence coming off her in waves. Dezzi squealed, unable to see Zebstrika approach quickly and hit his side with its flaming head. He flipped a few more times, landing back onto the other end of the arena. White clenched her fists as Zebstrika trotted back to its side of the field.

"Dezzi, return," White recalled her newest companion, clenching the Pokéball. "Thank you, you did a fantastic job out there." She wished she could say more, but she felt all eyes on her. She'd never consider herself camera shy in the past, but in this situation, she was petrified by the things. At least 4 cameras were trained on her, as well as Emerale's commentating (maybe more interviewers hiding around) and at least three dozen onlookers. She could only guess how many hundreds more were watching from the comfort of their homes. Was N watching? She shook the thought away, considering he detested the thought of gym battles. But without him…

"We're back from our commercial break! Now, let's see what White's last Pokémon will be!" Emerale's voice broke her thoughts. She didn't even see a cue along the lines of halting the battle for a commercial. That was as good as a time as any to get lost in thought.

"Go, Hoodie!" She threw her head and her Pokémon back into the fight. Hoodie appeared and tugged up his pants, opening his buggy eyes and looking around. White hadn't thought the collected Pokémon would be so shy, but she was getting surprised a lot today. "Don't worry Hoodie, we've almost got this!" The small lizard eyed his trainer but gave a small nod, accepting her reasoning for the moment. White didn't want to show that she was equally shy; Hoodie didn't need to know her fear.

"Zebstrika, use Spark!" White and Hoodie both faced forward as the zebra shimmered with electricity, sending a bolt their way. Hoodie began trying to lumber away, tugging his pants up high. Arceus forbid he flash the audience. The lizard wasn't fast enough to dodge another bolt that struck him, electrifying him in place. He yowled but was able to stay standing, a look of rage spreading over his face. Showtime. White looked at Hoodie and he nodded, getting an idea.

"Your electricity still can't hurt Hoodie, even if it's normal effective." White smiled, the audience gasping. They hadn't expected any smack-talk, and White hadn't either. But she didn't want to let on her plan by not declaring a move.

"That was just a warm-up, dear. Zebstrika, Volt switch!" Zebstrika lit up like a Christmas tree and dashed towards Hoodie. Even without a Pokémon to switch out with, the horse was determined to land a hit.

"Okay Hoodie, sidestep and use Brick Break!" Hoodie leapt to the side as Zebstrika nearly bolted past him. He threw a fist, hitting the horse in the shins and causing him to trip, the electricity disappearing. The horse whinnied, stopping itself from toppling over but held a limp on its front leg. Critical hit.

"Zebstrika, are you alright?" Elesa called and her horse snorted, using its good front hoof to kick at the field. The blonde leader didn't seem convinced, but Zebstrika neighed once more. "Alright, Flame charge, go!"

"Hoodie, Brick Break again!" White called, hoping to cripple the zebra again. Hoodie readied the attack, but was dispatched by a flaming hoof. He flew back and bounce, climbing to his stubby feet before being hit once more by the brunt of the attack. Flames singed him and he hissed, staggering away from Zebstrika. White grimaced, worried he was too low a level.

"Hoodie, c'mere for a second!" She announced quickly, pulling her bag off her shoulders. Elesa held back Zebstrika as Hoodie sauntered over, giving his trainer a look that read "Couldn't this wait?" White pulled the bottle of water out and handed it to him. The doorman had said it will recover health. "Drink this."

"Looks like challenger White is giving her Scraggy a water break! Hope this is a strategic move for her, or maybe for Elesa!"

Hoodie drank the water quickly, wiping his mouth afterwards. White would've felt his stomach would lurch, but was thankful that it was a small amount in the bottle. The water glistened as he licked it off his lips, and some of the burn marks covering his torso vanished. White smiled and nodded. "Looking good, buddy." He got the usual smug look on his wide face and headed back into the battle, ready for action.

"Zebstrika, Flame charge!" Elesa called and the horse sprinted into action. Hoodie ducked underneath the massive Pokémon and avoided being trampled. Zebstrika stopped mere feet from White, snorting in frustration and turned, trying a second time.

"Low Kick!" White called. She held her breath as Hoodie ducked under the horse again, this time extending a short leg out. Zebstrika tripped, unable to catch itself with the previously injured front leg, and crashed into the gym floor. The crowd gasped as the floor practically rumbled and debris from the previous rounds of battle was knocked up into the air. It settled slowly as no one took a breath.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle, that means the winner is White!" Emerale echoed the announcer on his podium. Funny, no one seemed to notice him before. The crowd erupted in cheers, Hoodie flashing a smile to a camera. He was definitely over the shy thing now. White couldn't contain a catlike grin spreading over her face so much it made her blush. Damn, winning felt good.

"Congratulations," Elesa stopped in front of White, offering her hand. White nodded to her in thanks, shaking her hand once before Elesa raised it up into the air. Camera flashes practically blinded them both, as well as the flashes of White's belt as her team scrambled to get in on the celebration. She laughed, Snarky climbing onto her back along with Sea. Inu-chan used his nose to push Dezzi onto his back, and Hoodie struck a pose for the shot. White laughed and tried not to buckle under the weight of her two companions. By the time the cameras and onlookers passed, White hadn't even realized Elesa had slipped the badge into her raised hand.

She'd definitely be mailing her mom those tickets, too, if she wasn't already trying to call her from the Xtransceiver. White's ears were still buzzing and she honestly wanted to collapse in the center and not hear another sound that wasn't morning.

* * *

"_Oh god, what have I done…I-I almost…"_

"_Calm yourself, these things happen for a reason. You're letting it impede your progress!"_

"_I can't progress, not like this!"_

"_You will, even if I must force you to. We can't let them discover our plans, can we?"_

"_Why?"_

"_Because, you can hardly be surprised when you know what's to come. Do not fail again, or my subject will handle this, and more effectively."_

"_Just…don't hurt her."_

"_I will not lay a finger on her, my boy. As long as you continue."_

"_I…I understand." He left the shadow of the buildings, crossing a concrete bridge. The other man shook his head, snapping his fingers. Three shadows joined his prescience._

"_Bring me my son. If not, the girl will do just fine."_

"""_Yes, my lord."""_

* * *

**A/N: **Again, I apologize in buckets for the lateness of this chapter. With BW2 coming out, I will try to hurry, but I need to ready myself for an artist convention as well as my study abroad program. I adore your patience and lovely reviews =3


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